The uses and application of the letter 's'
The letter 's' is the 19th letter of the English alphabet and has a variety of uses and applications in language. Some of the main uses of the letter 's' include:
1. Forming plurals: The letter 's' is commonly used to indicate that a noun is plural, such as adding an 's' to make 'cat' into 'cats'.
2. Showing possession: The letter 's' is also used to show possession, such as adding an apostrophe and an 's' to indicate ownership (e.g. John's car).
3. Forming verb tenses: The letter 's' is often added to verbs to indicate third person singular present tense, such as in "He runs" or "She eats".
4. Creating contractions: The letter 's' is used in contractions to combine words together, such as in "it's" for "it is" or "she's" for "she is".
5. Placing at the end of words: The letter 's' is often added to the end of words to form adjectives (e.g. fasts, happys) or adverbs (e.g. slowlys, quicklys).
In addition to these uses, the letter 's' is also commonly used as a prefix in words to indicate plurality, such as 'super', 'sub', 'semi', and 'self'. It can also be used as a suffix in words to indicate plurality or possession, such as 'ness' (e.g. kindness) or 'less' (e.g. fearless).
Overall, the letter 's' is an essential and versatile letter in the English language, playing a crucial role in grammar, spelling, and word formation.