"it's" vs. "its" - so few know the difference!!

@ebrown p,

Good point. Items like the apostrophe are historical residuals analogous to fashion residuals such as the sleeve buttons on a jackets (originally used for releasing the sword arm). Yet, to a large extent we are our history and language significantly conveys that aspect of social reality. Philosophers like Heidegger went even further into the a priori status of language when he cryptically declared "language speaks the man".

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For some men, it even speaks volumes..

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@ebrown p,

Still, you use upper case letters at the beginning of your sentences, and periods at the end of your sentences. I encourage you to keep it up, even though you probably don't follow the practice in oral speech.

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@roger,

there is an auditory period
a break in flow of speech to denote when one sentence ends and another starts
it might surprise you to know that i speak in all caps

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@ebrown p,

You got me! No, that doesn't surprise me at all.

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I known the difference between its and it's, your and you're, they're, there, and their.. for many decades; the same with here and hear. I still find myself messing them up in a post from time to time. The misuse of the words seems to come from my primitive brain and stream through my typing fingers without stopping for cognizance on the way. If I'm in a hurry I might not catch the error until I reread the post some hours later, when it is too late to fix it.

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@hawkeye10,

Hawkeye, you don't know what you're talking about.

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@alabhaois,

Quote:

It would seem that most people don't know the difference between "its" and "it's."

Thomas Jefferson didn't either.

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@Merry Andrew,

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For some people, appartently so.

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@Seed,

Quote:

I think it's more a lack of typing skill mixed with laziness then people not knowing the difference between the two.

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@Phoenix32890,

A fine example - you've mentioned it a number of times, Phoenix - that people can consciously think they're doing something wrong, a belief that comes from nonsense they've heard from others who know little about language, yet all they're doing is following the natural rules of their language.

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The definitions I've seen so far are incomplete, as they refer only to "it's" as meaning "it is".

"It's" is always a contraction, but its meaning refers to either of the following:
1. It's = it is: ........It's your turn to decide which DVD to see.
2. It's = it has: .... It's been good knowing you, pal.

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@Aa,

Odd that all English speakers seem to know the difference between these identical contractions. If the language can stand using the same contraction for such diverse grammatical structures, it would hardly present a problem if we also used it's for its.

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@aidan,

Quote:

Yeah, but Fresco, don't you think that the inadvertent lapse in correct usage, though it does serve as a marker for social and political membership might also indicate a tendency to laxity or lapse in terms of intellectual functioning?

Certainly, some uses indicate a tendency to relaxity Smile

but it's clear that that is what much of our language use is.

As to 'intellectual functioning', not in the least, Aidan. Every fool knows their language and the grammar of their language.

Being good at spelling, [spelling being an artificial construct], is not a good way to measure intellect. These 'markers" of social and political membership often do not equate to correct usage.

I'd say it's more appropriate to question the intellectual functioning of those who hold to examples of specious correct usage.

Quote:

I mean, for the most part, I ignore it - but I have to say that whenever I see someone over and over and over misusing or mispelling words, I come to my own conclusion. I try not to be judgmental about it - but it does lead me to a certain conclusion - I can't lie about it.

All too often, even for someone as thoughtful [in the critical thinking sense] as you, Aidan, these "judgments" are more the result of social conditioning towards language than any sense of what really is.

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@hawkeye10,

Hawkeye,
You place yourself in a quagmire with your use of the word '*******' as an exclamation of anger... In certain circles of society, the way you termed that sentence implies you are 'one of them' in the original sense, you should really drop the word for your own benefit.. I will only say it once, if I do not, some kid starts getting sneered at because it's OK.

Though in fairness, are you sexual? or a proper '******'?.

OP, thanks, I learned a few things here.. I never really learned English properly due to moving schools.

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@Aa,

Quote:

"It's" is always a contraction, but its meaning refers to either of the following:
1. It's = it is: ........It's your turn to decide which DVD to see.
2. It's = it has: .... It's been good knowing you, pal.

JoefromChicago and Eva are having a little trouble with this, in a conscious sense. In an unconscious sense they, like all native speakers, have no problem.

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@alabhaois,

Yes, it irritates me, too.

But maybe we should remember what a great scholar once wrote: "His" was the usual form for things until the close of the sixteenth century, when "its" (in older English, often with the apostrophe, "it's") began to replace it here: "Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor ...."

*****

I found that tidbit in the two-volume A Grammar of the English Language (1931) by Dr. George Oliver Curme, who I feel was one of the greatest grammarians ever. (Am I allowed to praise Dr. Curme? At another grammar forum, one of the moderators ordered me never to praise him!)

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@TheParser,

Quote:

(Am I allowed to praise Dr. Curme? At another grammar forum, one of the moderators ordered me never to praise him!)

That sounds pretty open minded, P.

Dr Curme doesn't seem to be too well known.

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@Eva,

Quote:

<sees ebrown p and JPB coming...hides AP Stylebook>

Is that where you got that silly notion that <it's> only means "it is", Eva.

'data' is naturally used as a singular by native speakers because it is viewed as a mass noun, the same as 'information'.

Granted, it is used by pedants who fall into that same old Latin trap.

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@JTT,

Hello, JTT:

Thank you for your note.

If anyone is looking for a two-volume grammar book that explains the historical basis of today's English (up to 1931), s/he should try to get a copy of Dr. Curme's book. For very serious students of the language, it will be a treasured possession.

James

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"it's" vs. "its" - so few know the difference!!

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