Sunday, June 3, 2012

Differences Between Your and You're

I haven't done a writing lesson in a while, and I actually got a request for this one, so here is how to remember whether to use "your" or "you're" in your writing.

It makes sense when you understand what an apostrophe is for. It is used in contractions (e.g., shouldn't, can't, and you'll) and for showing possession for a noun (e.g., Tom's diner, Bob's hardware, and Simba's tail). The key word there is noun. This does not apply to pronouns. Possessive pronouns NEVER, EVER use an apostrophe.

Your

Your is a possessive pronouns, meaning that it is the pronoun "you" that owns something.

Your cats. Your homework. Your problems.

Notice the lack of the apostrophe. If you use the apostrophe you get another word and meaning. You get...

You're

You're is a contraction for "you are."

You're here. You're beautiful; you're not fat. You're late!

The Test

If you are confused, the trick is to say "you are" to test if you got it right or not. If it works, then you use "you're", if it doesn't, then you use the word "your".

You are cats. You are homework. You are problems.
You are here. You are beautiful; you are not fat. You are late!

The first group does not make sense, so you use the word "your". The second group does make sense, so you use the word "you're".

Thanks everybody for visiting, you're awesome!