Grammar Guy begins with "its" and it's." He hopes everyone realizes that "its" is a possessive, meaning something belonging to it. "It's" is the contraction form of "it is." It's easy to remember the difference.
"Your" and "you're" are much the same. It's (notice the apostrophe) astounding how often the two forms are confused.
"There," is an object farther away from Grammar Guy than something that is "here." It can also be used as a term of consolation, as in "There, there, there," spoken to a distraught person. "Their" is another possessive, and "they're" is the short form of "they are." Got all that?
Now, how about "layer" and "lair?" One's a domesticated hen and the other is the place she should never wander into.
"Principal and principle." One's a headmaster and the other is moral ground to stand on.
That's about all that Grammar Guy can think of at this time. At his next appearance he'll look at meaningless expressions. As a preview, he offers, "Crucial straw poll." What's up with that? "Crucial" implies it's the most important in a series of events, and everything after it is an anticlimax. How could that possibly be true of an event that involves a tiny handful of people who actually had to pay to cast non-binding votes? And yet, a "crucial straw poll" caused one putative president, Tim Pawlenty, to drop from contention. For the record, we pick presidents by a process that's little short of insane.
I see "they're, there, and their" misused all the time. This is also true of "your" and "you're". Seemingly, everybody thinks it's "your welcome". AND "its" and "it's" are frequently misused.
ReplyDeleteA mistake weather forecasters make is taking about a "significant snowfall". What is it signifying? The correct term is a "substantial snowfall". Finally, I happen to be a Republican (don't have a heart attack) and I agree that the "crucial straw poll" in Iowa that would cause someone to drop out of the race is ridiculous!