Whinging Wednesday (Your and You're)
Your and You're
We all have our nemesis where the English language is concerned. For me, it’s words that end in ‘tor’ or ‘ter.’ I know, I know, for you it’s easy and you can't understand why I can’t spell. Well, on the flip side, many people (and writers) don’t know the difference between your and you’re, while I think it’s a piece of bake (or is that cake?). As we all know, ‘your’ is a possessive pronoun which denotes ownership.
• I love your bag.
• Your daughter is very fat.
• Your tractor is stuck in the mud.
Your – like the other six English pronouns, mine, his, hers, its, ours and theirs, highlights ownership.
You’re on the other hand, is totally different. This is a contraction of two separate words – hence the very obvious apostrophe in the middle.
- You are driving me nuts! is contracted to read, You’re driving me nuts!
- You are so not getting that raise. – You’re joking, right? I ain't giving you a penny more. ...And so on.
And what are you whinging about today?
5 comments:
Somehow as I get older some of the English that was second nature has left me second guessing myself. Oh, the mind is a terrible thing to waste. There's a T-shirt that says "of all the things I've lost it's my mind I miss the most!"
Yes, I've got a little fridge magnet that says just that.
I'm guessing if it had said "...its my mind..." it wouldn't be on your fridge :-)
Love the saying, Judy. ^^ I agree. Well not much to whine here though, except.. more 'time'? ha.. I have nothing against the apostrophe.
@agniezkas shoes. Ha!
@ChingYa yes, me too. I wish I had more time, but if not - definitely more fingers.
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