JoeSixPat
Pro Bowl Player
- Joined
- Nov 8, 2004
- Messages
- 10,671
- Reaction score
- 1,043
That's nice of you.
I'm not so nice.
It's "That's" and "I'll" and "haven't"- not "Thats" and "ill" and "havent"
Oh and there's this one as well.
I'm going to show a little mercy here to help save you from future humiliating situations.
Try to understand the proper usage of the word "you're". It is a contraction, or a combination of the words you and are. Other examples of contractions include doesn't, they're, and can't.
"You're a good friend." ("YOU ARE a good friend.")
"I don't know what you're talking about." ("I don't know what YOU ARE talking about.")
Now let's try to understand the proper usage of the word "your". The word your is the possessive form of you, referring to something that a person has, or something that belongs to the person in discussion [or, the person you are talking to].
"Is your stomach growling?"
"Your book is on the table."
Take a look at some examples. Each of the following examples shows an incorrect use of your/you're, and why it is incorrect.
"I can't read you're handwriting."
Incorrect because the contraction for "you are" is being used as the possessive form of you. It should be replaced with "your". Would "I can't read you are handwriting" make sense?
"If your hungry, then you should probably eat something."
Incorrect because there is no possession in question. This should be replaced with you're, or you are. Would "If my hungry..." make sense?
"Your very smart."
Again, incorrect. The "very smart" does not belong to the person that you are talking to—this doesn't make any sense. Replace your with you're, or you are.
Keep in mind that, in general, the word your will never be followed by the words the, a, or an.
Remember that the word your will usually not be followed by an adjective [a word that describes], when that adjective is describing the person that you are talking to. In other words, saying "Your very kind" or "Your stupid" will never be correct, assuming that you are describing the person that you are talking to. However, there is an exception, as shown here:
"Your nice son brought me my coat."
Here, your nice is acceptable only because nice is actually describing the person's son.
TIPS:
Since you're is actually a combination of two words, it fulfills two very important roles in a sentence or clause. You're will always be the subject and at least part of the verb of any clause in which it appears.
Try to spell out your contractions as often as you can. Type or write out cannot instead of can't. Say I am instead of I'm. Say you are instead of you're. That way, you can catch yourself if you misuse "you're". For example:
"I cannot read you're handwriting." → "I cannot read you are handwriting."
It doesn't make much sense here, does it?
Try not to think that proper writing is strictly "academic". It makes you appear more intelligent. More importantly, it eliminates the risk of bad habits "slipping out" in situations where it is critical to convey properness, such as writing a college essay or a job résumé.
Just remember "You're not spelling your words correctly," and it all falls into place.
The apostrophe in a contraction replaces the missing letter(s). For example, in "you're" (contraction of "you are") it replaces the "a" from "are", and in "can't" (contraction of "can not" or "cannot") it replaces the "no" from "not".
While acceptable in text messaging, the increasingly popular "ur" should never be used in writing.
WARNINGS
There is another word, yore, that sounds just the same as you're and your.
Yore refers to times long past and isn't used often in casual speech.
Simple grammatical errors, such as incorrect use of your and you're, can harm how others perceive your credibility when they read your compositions. It is in your best interests to learn how to use these words properly.
Don't use "You" so frequently in a speech or conversation. It may be provoking.
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