Whinging Wednesday (Your and You're)

Your and You're

You caught me! I’m at it again, whinging on Wednesdays. You know, I should really try to find a way to kick this very annoying habit, but I think I like it too much.

We all have our nemesis where the English language is concerned. For me, it’s words that end in ‘tor’ or ‘ter.’ I know, I know, for you it’s easy and you can't understand why I can’t spell. Well, on the flip side, many people (and writers) don’t know the difference between your and you’re, while I think it’s a piece of bake (or is that cake?). As we all know, ‘your’ is a possessive pronoun which denotes ownership.

• I love your bag.


• Your daughter is very fat.


• Your tractor is stuck in the mud.

Your – like the other six English pronouns, mine, his, hers, its, ours and theirs, highlights ownership.

You’re on the other hand, is totally different. This is a contraction of two separate words – hence the very obvious apostrophe in the middle.

• You are driving me nuts! is contracted to read, You’re driving me nuts!
• You are so not getting that raise. – You’re joking, right? I ain't giving you a penny more.   ...And so on.

If you’re thinking two words then you need the apostrophe. If you’re not, then ‘your’ is the word you want.  I’ll leave you with this while I go find myself someone to teach me to spell.

And what are you whinging about today?