We saw in the last article that one of the apostrophe's main functions is to denote possession. Today we are going to look at its other uses.

Contractions
The apostrophe's other main use is to replace letters omitted from a word that has been shortened or contracted. An example is my own surname, O'Donnell, which originally meant son of Donnell, but an apostrophe now replaces the letter f. Similarly, as we know from our last article, it's is not a possessive form, rather the apostrophe replaces the letter i to form the contracted form of it is.

The apostrophe's use in contractions falls into one of several categories:

1. Replacing one or more letters in informal or spoken English. Some common examples are:
   am - 'm as in "I'm just coming!"
   are - 're as in "They're late again."
   has, is - 's as in "who's going to help me with the dishes?"
   have 've and so on...
   had, would - 'd
   shall, will - 'll
   not - n't
   A few contractions formed using n't are irregular. These are can't (can not), won't (will not) and shan't (shall not).
   The apostrophe can also be used to replace letters on both sides of a word, as in salt 'n' pepper (i.e. and).
    
2. In rare examples, the apostrophe shows that the original whole word or phrase is not being used.

   Examples:	'cello - violoncello
   	o'clock - a contraction formed in the 18th century of the whole phrase of the clock

3. In literature, the apostrophe can be used to indicate that a local dialect is being spoken, such as that typical of London, where it wouldn't be uncommon to be asked,
   "'ave you seen 'em 'angin' around 'ere lately?" [have you seen them hanging around here lately?].
   This is only really needed for recognition purposes.

Never forget that although contractions are widespread in spoken English and even make the speaker sound much more natural, they should always be avoided in formal writing - only in informal correspondence are they really acceptable.