Help with the "it's" and "its" rule.

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G.T

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Guys, I need a bit of help. I'm totally confused.

Generally, I know how to use the word "it's" and "its", as in "it's" is short for "it is" and "its" is possesion, but lately, I've gotten a few wrong. I've always been taught that "it's" is ONLY "it is", and not "it has". I put "its" for "it has" on a peice of work and got it wrong according to my tutor at college. The work sheet she gave me before said you only put an apostrophe there if it's ONLY "it is". Can someone correct me here?

What a mouthful. :lol:
 
:lol:!

Ok, I think I get it now. It's ONLY "its" if it's possesive. Right.

I would have looked online instead of making a thread, but I couldn't find anything decent!
 
"It's" means "It is." ex: It's meant to be the fastest car in the world.
Its is possesive. ex: Its tail caught on fire.
 
I PMed a member here the other day about apostrophe rules... As long as you remember these four things, you'll be fine.

When to use an apostrophe
Contraction: When a letter goes missing, an apostrophe takes its place...
Does not -> Doesn't
Cannot -> Can't
It is -> It's
Forecastle -> Fo'c's'le

Possession: When something belongs to something, apostrophes are used to denote this...
The girl's hat = The hat belonging to the girl
The girls' hats = The hats belonging to the girls
Meg's dogs' coats = The coats belonging to the many dogs of Meg.

When NOT to use an apostrophe:
Pluralisation: When pluralising, just pluralise. No apostrophe is needed...
Tomato -> Tomatoes NOT Tomato's
CD -> CDs NOT CD's

Possession by it: When something belongs to it, no apostrophe is needed...
Its badger = The badger belonging to it.
It's badger = It IS badger.


"It's" can represent "it has"...
A: What's your car's spec like?
B: It's got a CD player.

It's a little sloppy, but acceptable.
 
I think your tutor is being a bit pedantic. The apostrophe means that something is missing, and normally that would be "is". I think he/she's complaining about the fact that people shorten "it has" to "it's" and they're very naughty. It's the kind of thing I hate among intelligent people. My mother does it all the time...:rolleyes:
 
Thanks for the help, guys! Apparently, my Tutor says I'm very good at the rules of apostrophes anyway (and grammar overall). It's just that worksheet threw me when it said the apostrophe is only for "it is". I've got to try and find it so I can tell her. :p
 
It's the other way round - the only incorrect usage of "it's" is possessive. If it's contractive, no matter what the contraction is (though only "it is" and "it has" spring to mind) then it's's correct.

And yes, I did mean to write it's's - in that context it's's's correct... :D

Show her this post, if you fancy a good Grammarian laugh.


"It's" to mean "it has" in written grammar is... a little sloppy, but it's an acceptable part of spoken grammar. So if you're writing dialogue it's fine.
 
I'll try and show her somehow. :D Just the College's PCs block GTP.

But to write a formal letter you have to use the apostrophe as less as possible to make it seem "professional and clean", right (unless it's possesive of course)? It's what catches me out sometimes. I automaticaly put an apostrophe in when I don't realise it.


Edit:

Anyway, thanks for the help again. My brain seems to take grammatical things easily, but when it gets to spelling, it's another matter...
 
It's true that the apostrophe does indicate a more colloquial language - so if you're being formal, either in speech or writing, you should avoid contracting as much as possible, and find ways around using possessive apostrophes in writing. Oh, and never end sentences with a preposition...

A Texan girl and a New York girl are sitting opposite each other on the train. Keen to break the awkward silence, the Texan strikes up a conversation.

"So, where y'all from?", she enquires.
"I'm from a place where we know better than to end a sentence with a preposition," says the New Yorker, haughtily.

The Texan girl thinks for a minute...

"So," she says. "Where y'all from, b***h?"
Click to expand...
 
Famine
Oh, and never end sentences with a preposition...
Click to expand...
Hmmmm, interesting. I've never heard of that one.

I've heard of the never start a sentence with an "and" rule, but, again, I've had mixed input on that.

Oh well. The English language is changing all the time (blame the computers, I say!). We can't expect any of us to be perfect. :p
 
G.T, i have found a solution for your blocking problem (well, partly)
just go to babelfish.altavista.com.
Put in www.gtplanet.net/forum as url and select for example italian to english.
that way it just leaves all the english words because babelfish doesn't know them in italian and it leaves them unedited

the only downpart is that you can't see any avatars, button pics and you can't log in.
but you can read text without a problem :)
 
dustdriver
G.T, i have found a solution for your blocking problem (well, partly)
just go to babelfish.altavista.com.
Put in www.gtplanet.net/forum as url and select for example italian to english.
that way it just leaves all the english words because babelfish doesn't know them in italian and it leaves them unedited

the only downpart is that you can't see any avatars, button pics and you can't log in.
but you can read text without a problem :)
Click to expand...
Hehe, good idea, but that's breaching the College's security isn't it? I've tried something like this before by finding several proxies by Google, but they didn't work (hardly any website does...). Plus, it's my last lesson with her Tuesday so I may not even get the chance to show her. Maybe I'll print it out. :)
 
Another common mistake with apostrophes is their use in every sentence dealing with years.

Apostrophes are NOT used when simply talking about a time period:
"the Great Depression of the 1930s"
"the Industrial Revolution of the 1800s"

Apostrophes ARE used if dealing with possesives:
"the 1930's Great Depression"
"the 1800's Indutrial Revoultion"


And Famine, "y'all" is the contraction of "you all" that's used in the South, so we only use it when speaking to more than one person.
 
3-Wheel Drive
And Famine, "y'all" is the contraction of "you all" that's used in the South, so we only use it when speaking to more than one person.
Click to expand...

Please e-mail my friend in Atlanta and tell her she's been using it wrong for 55 years.
 
Still - it's a rather bold claim to say that everyone in the South only uses it that way...

I've heard it - from Texans too - applied to an individual. How y'all doin? Y'all have a nice day now...
 
Famine
Please e-mail my friend in Atlanta and tell her she's been using it wrong for 55 years.
Click to expand...

Got her EMAIL-addy?

Anyway, saying y'all to one person is pretty much wrong, even by 'neck standards.

Singular is usually Ya, and Plural is Y'all.
 
Woah, woah, wait a minute. That's disgusting. I was just making a point.

Anyway, I just noticed something.

Thread title: Help the with? What's up with that? ;)
 
That's a point actually... Here he is, worrying about the niceties of formal English grammar...
 
Whoa, been gone at Colmbus for NHRA qualifying. But you Brits don't have that, so you don't care.

Anyhow, MILFing is alright, so long as the lady is...never mind. Kids cause flappy meat wings. MILFing is gross. Omnis, you're gross.

Speaking of you're...
Famine's (possesed by Famine) rule of "a missing letter" was partly just a bout of sarcasm. That's (that has) probably been said, but it's (it is) not proper to say "F'ck'ng m'th'rf'ck'r". It just isn't (is not) in the rule books. You can do it to be funny, I don't care. I guess you just have to know which letters go missing, but the apostrophe does take place of those letters.
I don't feel like explaining because everyone else already has and everyone gets the idea.
 
WTF MILFING IS DISGUSTING! WHEN DID I SUPPORT IT?!

Man, please don't pick on me, guys. :( :lol:
 
I had to urban-dictionary that one. And, no, that's messed up, man.
 
keef
Whoa, been gone at Colmbus for NHRA qualifying. But you Brits don't have that, so you don't care.

Anyhow, MILFing is alright, so long as the lady is...never mind. Kids cause flappy meat wings. MILFing is gross. Omnis, you're gross.
Click to expand...

Ooookay - throttle back on that one now, please, keef.

keef
Speaking of you're...
Famine's (possesed by Famine) rule of "a missing letter" was partly just a bout of sarcasm. That's (that has) probably been said, but it's (it is) not proper to say "F'ck'ng m'th'rf'ck'r". It just isn't (is not) in the rule books. You can do it to be funny, I don't care. I guess you just have to know which letters go missing, but the apostrophe does take place of those letters.
I don't feel like explaining because everyone else already has and everyone gets the idea.
Click to expand...

Actually, I was serious. The fo'c's'le is genuinely a part of a ship, spelled exactly that way. It's a contraction of "forecastle" and is, really, pronounced "focsle" (with an elongated o).
 

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