You can bet that this Grandmother knew her grammar.
No, this is not about grandmothers that are sexually attractive. Please….
This is about grammatical errors that are common and irritate the heck out of your former English teachers. Or any of the rest of us who read what you write – especially your Facebook posts. Yes, I mean you.
Your/ You’re –
This seems to be an incredibly common problem.
What is the difference –?
Your – I have your gloves. Your – the gloves belonging to you.
You’re – You’re going to the movies, right? “You’re” is a contraction of the two words, “you” and “are”.
If you are not sure which to use, say the sentence with the words “you are” in it. It if makes sense with “you are” then you can use “you’re”. Using the examples above, you would not say “I have you are gloves.” So the answer is I have your gloves. But you would say “You are going to the movies.” So in that instance you can use “you’re”.
Its/It’s
It is that contraction problem again. When you see an apostrophe, think two words not one. Unless of course it is there to show procession (Susie’s duck).
What is the difference –?
Its – The dog licked its tail. (Keep it clean, people!)
It’s – It’s my gun. It’s is a contraction of the words “it” and “is”.
If you are not sure which to use, say the sentence with the words “it is” in it. It if makes sense with “it is” then you can use “it’s”. As in the example above, it would not be right to say “The dog licked it is tail.”
Their/there/they’re
Okay, as you may notice, these three problem areas are sets of words that sound alike but have different meanings. Remember, they are called homophones.
What is the difference –?
Their – Their hands met when they both tried to grab the falling glass. “Their” shows possession or ownership. The hands belong to people (or zombies, whatever)
There – There is a black squirrel in the yard. “There” is used to call attention to something.
They’re – They’re going to go see the new vampire movie. “They’re” means “they are”
On this one, see if you are talking about more than one person and something that they possess, in that case, it is “their”. If you can replace the word with “they are” then the answer should be “they’re.”
OMG! She put a test in here!
Fill in the blank
“Oh, (it’s/its) you again! I thought I told you that there are not kumquats here and you should go home to (your/you’re) own house. (Your/You’re) driving me crazy. “
“(There/their/They’re) , (there/their/they’re), (its/it’s) not so bad, man. I just love kumquats and I search for them everywhere I go.”
“If you want kumquats, go over (there/their/they’re) to the Kent’s. (There/Their/They’re) kumquats are the best in the county. (There/Their/They’re) kumquats win the county fair ribbon every year. (Their/There/They’re) the kumquat champions.”
“Where is (there/their) farm?”
“Why, it is over (there/their). (Its/It’s) the one painted yellow.”
“Thank you for (your/you’re) kindness! I will go over (there/their) right away. I hope (there/their/they’re) nice people. ”
Thanks for reading
Answers –
“Oh, it’s you again! I thought I told you that there are not kumquats here and you should go home to your own house. You’re driving me crazy. “
“There, there, it’s not so bad, man. I just love kumquats and I search for them everywhere I go.”
“If you want kumquats, go over there to the farm belonging to the Kent’s. Their kumquats are the best in the county. Their kumquats win the county fair ribbon every year. They’re kumquat champions. ’”
“Where is their farm?”
“Why, it is over there. It’s the one painted yellow.”
“Thank you for your kindness! I will go over there right away. I hope they’re nice people.”
Carol Early Cooney 