Using the genitive case.

[eureka1]

Hi,


I am not totally sure how to use the genitive (possessive) case correctly. Are there any general rules to help?
To make my question more concrete, let me give you a few examples:


1- Company's pecking order (why not the packing order of the company)?
2- Public opion (why not public's opinion or the opinion of the public)?
3- Government funds (why not government's funds)?
4- School principal (why not school's principal or the principal of the school)?
5- State law (why not state's law)?
6- City's orchestra (why not the orchestra of the city)?


Thanks for your help in advance.

 

[jutfrank]

An initial, cursory answer would be that you could use your given alternative forms.

Note that your 2-,3-,4- and 5- are compound nouns.

 

[Tdol]

There are alternative forms in all of the examples you give. You also use city orchestra and company pecking order. Much of this is more a question of collocation- using the more common forms in most contexts - than anything else. Do what others do and you'll be right.