What’s the difference?
It’s not the first time English has made us go:
LOL, I love using memes.
Anyway, we were all taught to put an apostrophe ‘s’ at the end of words to show possessiveness, right?
…right? *eyes you suspiciously*
Yes, to show possessiveness, we put an apostrophe ‘s’. That is Brianna’s calendar, or, The book’s cover was accidentally torn in my backpack.
The calendar belongs to Brianna, and the cover belongs to the book. Sound familiar? Good, moving on.
We’re going to discuss the common mistakes made with “its”, and “it’s”. It is a pronoun. To refresh your memory, pronouns are substitutes for nouns! Instead of saying “calendar” everytime you want to mention the handy-dandy book keeping track of our time here on planet Earth, we can substitute for the word “it!”
While we’re on the subject, I want to give a huge shoutout to our man, Julius Caesar, for confusing the heck out of us by adding July and August. Thanks, dude. *finger guns*
The possessive form of “it” is NOT “it’s” — instead, it’s “its,” without the apostrophe. “It’s” is a contraction (abbreviation) of “it is” and “it has.” To show ownership, you use “its.” Let’s go over some examples:
Captain America’s shield is made out of vibranium; its durability withstanding any attack.
This one has TWO possessive forms: the shield belonging to Cap, and the durability belonging to the metal vibranium.
Harry read the words inscribed, “Firebolt,” on its handle.
The handle belongs to the Firebolt.
If you put “it’s” instead of “its,” the sentence will sound confusing and you’ll look silly, mate. Does, Harry read the words inscribed, “Firebolt,” on it is handle, make ANY sense? Noooooo so now we know to use “its,” instead.
What other words are confusing when switching forms? Oh, yes!
The words, “gonna” (going to) and “wanna,” (want to) are contractions! Yes, they are words in the dictionary — not just slang. I use these all the time! Contractions of words can be used to signify how someone talks in texts. For example, Hagrid’s sentences in the Harry Potter series are FULL of contractions. In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Hagrid says, “No, sir — house was almost destroyed, but I got him out all right before the Muggles started swarmin’ around. He fell asleep as we was flyin’ over Bristol (p. 15).” We can tell, just by reading, that Hagrid has particular accent and style of speech.
Contractions of dates are also very common. Instead of saying, “the 1980s,” we can shorten it to, “the ’80s.”
“They’re” (they are) is apart of the dreaded thruple: their, they’re, and there. “Their” is the possessive form of “they” used before a noun. Their business, for example. I’d hope you’d know how to use “they are.” They’re not the brightest dogs, but we still love them. The word, “there” can have a multitude of meanings, depending on your usage. It can signify a place, an action, in a state of condition, etc. Let’s stop there for today. He went over there. I’d put a comma there…
In the end, don’t feel bad about being confused…English is hard, even for native speakers. Practice makes permanence.
See you next week!
~Servus~
