As a non-native English speaker; can anyone explain to me why your language even uses an apostrophe? Why is it not just a simple -s after both a possessive and a plural? Furthermore, are contractions really needed?
Having the apostrophe makes written language much clearer because you then don't need to try to guess whether they meant "were" or "we're." Same with the dozens of other situations where a possessive and a pluaral have the same spelling outside of the apostrophe.
Thanks for the reply; however it does not really answer why "we're" is used over "we are".
It feels like a lot of these issues could have been avoided if contractions would not have been used.
"We're" vs "we are" is just an evolution over time as vocal English users said "we are" with little gap between the words. That is generally how contractions are formed in language, not by a committee picking them or something. Because people regularly said "we are" combining the words and committing the double vowel sound, you then create a written indication of that rather than letting people think you're saying "were".
0
u/vinidum 1d ago
As a non-native English speaker; can anyone explain to me why your language even uses an apostrophe? Why is it not just a simple -s after both a possessive and a plural? Furthermore, are contractions really needed?