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Viewing English Grammar: It's or Its? Who's or Whose? Help is Here!English Grammar: It's or Its? Who's or Whose? Help is Here!
By Kathy Steinemann
Deciding whether to use "it's", "its", "who's", "whose", "you're", "your", "there's", or "theirs" is actually quite easy if you understand how. Unfortunately a large percentage of people, include native English speakers, choose incorrectly! A quick review of a few apostrophe (') uses should help to clarify the situation. • An apostrophe indicates possession when used with a noun. - Jessica's jacket is red. - The cat's bed is on the floor. - Browns' house is on Main Street. - The men's locker room is noisy. - The children's playground is next to the school. However: • Never use an apostrophe with possessive pronouns (pronouns that indicate ownership). - The jacket is hers. - The cat is in its bed. - The house is theirs. - The locker room is ours. - The playground is next to his school. - Your sentence is correct. • An apostrophe is used to indicate contractions. - It's too far. (It is too far.) - It's been three hours. (It has been three hours.) - There's the ball. (There is the ball.) - Who's on first base? (Who is on first base?) - You're always on time. (You are always on time.) • Beware! These words are known as "homonyms" (words that sound the same, but have different meanings). - Whose car is that? - Who's next to the car? (Who is next to the car?) - Its meaning is clear. - It's clear to me. (It is clear to me.) - It's never been clearer. (It has never been clearer.) - The book is theirs. - There's their book. (There is their book.) - Your joke is funny! - You're joking! (You are joking!) • Simple rule 1: If you are combining two words and leaving out letters (to form a contraction), use an apostrophe; otherwise, the apostrophe is incorrect. - If you mean "it is" or "it has", use "it's", otherwise say "its". - If you mean "who is", use "who's", otherwise say "whose". - If you mean "there is", use "there's", otherwise say "theirs". - If you mean "you are", use "you're", otherwise say "your". • Simple rule 2: If you can substitute "his" or "her" for "its" or "your", omit the apostrophe. - Right: Its color is red. - "Her color is red" sounds logical. - Wrong: It's color is red. - "It is color is red" does not make sense. - Right: Your ball is here. - "His ball is here" sounds logical. - Wrong: You're ball is here. - "You are ball is here" does not make sense. • Simple rule 3: Stop and think about what you intend to say! The following equations are a simplification of what has already been stated in this article. - Possessive pronoun = no apostrophe - Contraction = use an apostrophe Quiz: Which of the following sentences are correct? (No peeking!) 1. Its too late to go to the store. 2. The cat licked it's paws. 3. Theres too much information on the Internet. 4. The garage is there's. 5. Whose going to the store? 6. Who's baby is crying? 7. Your pretty and smart, too! 8. May I have you're book for awhile? Answers: Incorrect sentences: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Correct sentences: None! Review the article if you do not understand where you went wrong. Then consider the meaning of each sentence carefully as you try the quiz a second time. (c) Copyright Kathy Steinemann: This article is free to publish only if this copyright notice, the byline, and the author's note below (with active links) are included. About the Author: Kathy has written a book about learning foreign languages, with hundreds of tips, ideas, and free Internet resources. The free resources alone will save you many times the book's cost. Be sure to visit her site, A-Language-Guide.com as well, for language tips and articles by other authors. Article Source: A Language Guide - http://www.a-language-guide.com More free articles: 1st Rate Articles - 1stRateArticles.com |
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