Consider the English word /dɔg/.(Forget about spelling for a moment.)

You know exactly what it means,and in English the sound-cluster /dɔg/

has only one meaning.

But what about /dɔgz/?

If you hear someone say, “These two beasts are /dɔgz/”,you know instinctively from context

that it’s a plural subject...

...while, if you hear

“This is that /dɔgz/ bowl”,you know, also from context, that the same sound shows that the bowl

belongs to a singular dog. Same sounds, different meaning.

We distinguish these in writing (<dogs> and <dog’s>)but the sound is the same.

The difference comes about in the context.

The one we spell <dog’s>

is in the Genitive Case(Casu Genetívo).

Now we’ll get this case in Latin.And these first examples will in fact

follow the exact same pattern as English.