264: S-functions Aug 29, 2015
'S' in the English language as a lot of different, and important
functions. It forms possessive pronouns such as 'hers', 'ours', and
somewhat related, it denotes possession in singular nouns, as well as in
plural nouns not having a final '-s'. This use started from the Old
English '-es', which was the masculine and neuter genitive singular
ending, and now the apostrophe in something such as 'Mary's...' stands
in place of an '-e-'. 'S' is also used in conjugating the third person
singular of the present of verbs, which originates from the Old English
way to conjugate verbs of the same person, number, and tense. 'S' also
denotes the plurals of some nouns. This is due to the Old English plural
ending '-as'.
For more on genitive endings, see this.
For more on genitive endings, see this.
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