Grammar Cop: "it's, its"

Sort:
Avatar of KantWasWrong

Since a few people follow me, I thought it only fair that I give them something. American English grammar is one of my few strengths, and so I'll share some things periodically. My hands tremor, so this is difficult, and I'll try to keep them short.

These two words, "it's" and "its" are commonly mixed up. The problem seems to arise because the English possessive is normally noted with an apostrophe, as in "That was Kant's mistake." But English also uses an apostrophe for contractions: as in "Kant can't (an abbreviation of can not)."

One easy way to keep them straight is to keep in mind that "it's" is a contraction of "it is," while "its" is the third person gender neutral possessive pronoun. You don't use an apostrophe going from "he" to "his," or from "she" to "her", so don't use one going from "it" to "its"

It's easy if you remember its history.

Avatar of StanleyJ
I see also your instead of you're all the time.
Avatar of KantWasWrong
StanleyJ wrote:
I see also your instead of you're all the time.

I'll be sure to cover that one in the future!

Avatar of ilikewindmills
Your wasting you're time.

Hehehe
Avatar of bunicula

Loosers would of more humblenessity irregardless

Avatar of Bilbo21

God luck with that. Its goin to be hard to convince people.

Avatar of MEXIMARTINI

than, then, they're,there, were, we're, their, there, your,you're, ...yada yada yada...

Avatar of notmtwain

Example: https://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/chess-decanter

Avatar of Babytigrrr

I must admit, I am a sucker for good grammar.

 

My unsolicited grammar tip of the day: 'who' is for people and 'that' is for things...  eg. I have a friend who is cool and a dog that is clever.

Avatar of OneThousandEightHundred18
I speak english goodly.
Avatar of batgirl

What about 'tis?

Avatar of KantWasWrong
batgirl wrote:

What about 'tis?

Archaic but acceptable. 'Tis a contraction of "it is."

Avatar of Babytigrrr
KantWasWrong wrote:
batgirl wrote:

What about 'tis?

Archaic but acceptable. 'Tis a contraction of "it is."

 

 It is.

Avatar of KantWasWrong
Babytigrrr wrote:

I must admit, I am a sucker for good grammar.

 

My unsolicited grammar tip of the day: 'who' is for people and 'that' is for things...  eg. I have a friend who is cool and a dog that is clever.

Thanks for the excellent contribution.

Avatar of wanmokewan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I776Ibj3iTs

Avatar of Joseph-S

  Knowing the rules of using "a" and "an", why isn't it proper grammar to say, "He is a F.B.I. agent"?     Smile

Avatar of wanmokewan

Because phonetically, the letter F is spelled EF, thus there's a vowel sound at the beginning and "an" is required rather than "a". 

 

Unless you were being sarcastic or otherwise making a joke and you know all this.  It's hard to tell with text.

Avatar of Joseph-S
wanmokewan wrote:

Because phonetically, the letter F is spelled EF, thus there's a vowel sound at the beginning and "an" is required rather than "a". 

 

 

  You got it!  

Avatar of StairwayToTruth
Joseph-S wrote:
wanmokewan wrote:

Because phonetically, the letter F is spelled EF, thus there's a vowel sound at the beginning and "an" is required rather than "a". 

 

 

  You got it!  

Butt than hows about the words who begin with a letter Y?

Avatar of wanmokewan

First: but*.  Butt is the rear end of something.

Second: A word starting with Y is a consenant sound, thus "a" is appropriate.