Апостроф в Английском языке. Правила применения.

In American English, apostrophes are primarily used for three purposes:

1. Contractions: Apostrophes are used to indicate the omission of one or more letters in contractions. For example, "can't" is a contraction of "cannot," and the apostrophe replaces the missing "no."

2. Possessives: Apostrophes are used to indicate possession. When indicating possession for singular nouns, the apostrophe is placed before the "s." For example, "the dog's tail" indicates that the tail belongs to the dog. When indicating possession for plural nouns ending in "s," the apostrophe is placed after the "s." For example, "the dogs' leashes" indicates that the leashes belong to the dogs.

3. Pluralizing lowercase letters and symbols: Apostrophes can be used to form plurals of lowercase letters and symbols to avoid confusion. For example, "mind your p's and q's" refers to being attentive and careful.

It's important to note that apostrophes are not used to form plurals of regular nouns. For example, it would be incorrect to write "apple's" or "car's" to indicate multiple apples or cars.

These are the main uses of apostrophes in American English.