idioms - Use of sequences like "In modern's US"



Is it correct to use possessive case for referring to the time in consideration, like in




  • in today's US




  • in modern's US




  • in last century's England




etc?



Answer



Possessives in English can generally only be used to modify nouns (strictly speaking, noun phrases). In your examples, two are nouns but one is not:




  • in today's US = in the US of today (OK)




  • in modern's US = *in the US of modern (not OK)




  • in last century's England = in the England of the last century (OK, but note we need to add the definite article)




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