This will be the most useful question I ever ask. Can you guys help me with my grammar?
Asked by
Tink (
8673
)
July 30th, 2009
from iPhone
As most of you know, I suffer from lack of good grammar skills.
The words are your and you’re.
I don’t get how to use them properly.
Examples too please :)
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72 Answers
Brave of you to ask! :) Great question.
“You’re” is the same as “you are.” If it makes sense to use “you are” in a sentence, then use “you’re.”
”You’re awesome for wanting to improve your grammar.”
Your means it belongs to you. “That’s your opinion.”
You’re is exactly the same as “You are”. “You’re a nice person.”
“Your” is possessive (Ex: Your iPhone is cool.)
You’re is short for “Your are” (Ex: You’re lame. You have a Windows Mobile Smartphone)
UR not gonna git nothin’ outta me!
just remember that whenever you’re using a ’, you’re replacing a letter that isn’t there.
so when you use “you’re”, you’re replacing what would usually be ” a” with the ’.
and ditto to what @Likeradar and @Darwin said.
They’ve already answered it, but I just wanted to make a side-comment: am I the only one who pronounces these words differently and does not treat them like exact homophones?
I say “your” like “yore”, rhyming with “pour” and “for”. I say “you’re” like “yoor”, almost like “yu-er” said quickly.
I’m from Texas and we say both words as two syllables.
Ok so like:
I know you’re gonna go. Pronouncing it like I know you are gonna go
And
Is that your Fluther account? I am still a bit confused about this one though…
@Tink1113 Yes you’ve got it. Why would you be confused about “Your” ?
I pronounce them exactly the same…
@Tink1113 Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it.
@Tink1113 you got it. use ‘your’ whenever you’re saying that something belongs to a person. if the fluther shirt belongs to them, you’d be like, “is that your shirt?”. if the fluther shirt…is them? haha you’d be like, “you’re a fluther shirt!”.
just mentally replace the your/you’re in question with “you are”. if “you are” makes sense in place of it, use “you’re”. if it doesn’t, it’s “your”.
i think you’ll catch on. (:
Ya’lls makin’ meh dizzah…
Haha when I say your I also pronounce it yoor, so maybe thats why.
Thanks you guys!!
You’re all getting lurve!!
Because of your answers.
How are you with its and it’s?
Edit :: And I would like to add that your spelling and grammar has improved so much since you joined.
How are you with ho’s and hoe’s?
Goddammit JP!!! What’s the difference with those??
As long as you know what the meaning of “is” is, you’ll be fine.
”It’s” is short for “it is” as in ”It’s (it + is) a lovely day!”
”Its” is the possessive of “it” as in, “That is Bob’s cat but I don’t know its name.” ”its” is possessive meaning it’s belonging to someone.
It’s: “It is”
Ex: It’s a beautiful day.
Its: Possessive, belonging to “it”
Ex: The dog rolled over, so I rubbed its belly.
Let’s go over “to” and “too” also, do you understand those?
Now can someone help me with “then” and “than”. Those always fuck me up.
@jonsblond Is that possible?
@TheCreative Oh I get it now, I think:
Its not your problem and It’s awesome!
@Ivan Yes I understand to and too
@johnpowell I feel your pain. Then and than get me every time.
@johnpowell ”Than” is used to compare. (Ex: I like the apple more than the orange.)
@TheCreative What then shall we do with these apples and oranges?
Have we tackled “Their” “They’re” and “There” yet?
Orange them in too separate boles so their not confused.
I see someone needs to go back to school…:P
@johnpowell Nope!
”Their” is possessive. (Ex: Don’t sit there. Those are their chairs.)
”They’re” is short for “They are” (They + are) ”They’re smelly.”
”There” is used to discribe a place “over there!” (Ex: Look! there they are!)
Tink, you’re very wise to be paying attention to your grammar. Writing and speaking well are two skills that will always stand by you. Many people will judge you by them. Your words often precede you (such as on applications and resumes) and lead people to form conclusions about you before they even meet you. No matter how smart you are, if you speak and write poorly, many people will underestimate your abilities. Luckily there is a large group of willing helpers right here.
Here’s another aid to remembering: “your” goes along with “our” and “their” and “her”—no apostrophes in any of them. They all have the same meaning (ownership, possession) with respect to different persons.
Yoor problee wright. They’res hope four me yet.
@johnpowell
Then: Refers to something that happened in chronological order.
Ex: I went to the store and then the dentist.
Than: Used to compare.
Ex: I would rather go to the store than the dentist.
@Jeruba Thanks, I’m going back to school in a couple of weeks so I need to improve.
@Tink1113 I’m not going to school in a couple of weeks and I still need to improve. Lurve for caring.
And then there’s yore, as in days of.
When you say “Examples too please”, there should be a comma after too. Where you’d normally take a slight pause in a sentence, there should be a comma for all intents and purposes.
Does anyone else want to adopt @Tink1113 right about now? :^)
hehe, looking for a good guardian though… :P
@DominicX I pronounce them differently, too. Even though I’m Southern and most people around me do not.
A very very simple explanation which has certainly been said already, but I love to hear the sound of myself typing :)
Words with apostrophes are usually contractions, that is to say that letters have been omitted. So if you know what the uncontracted form is, it’s much easier to figure out the difference. “You’re” is a contraction for “You are”, similar to “I am” [I’m] and “He is” [He’s].
“Your” on the other hand is a possessive indicator. This apple is your apple. Can I borrow your textbook? There are other forms of possessive indicators: mine, his, their (not they’re – that’s a contraction of “they are”).
Combining the two: “You’re going to want to wash your new shirts before you wear them or else they’ll be starchy.” “Your apple fell on the floor, you’re going to wash it before eating it, I hope?”
Then: also used in logical implication, as in “If it is hot, then I will go swimming”. I supposed this is kind of an offshoot of chronological sequencing.
Let’s go over that and which as well, can we?
I think it’s great that you are asking, but how old are you? 13? Wasn’t this taught in school? Kids in my district are already doing power points before middle school, but I know English is still taught. I’m just at a loss with this.
@Tink1113 @andrew
Not a big difference between “that” and “which”; it’s basically up to you which one to use. They’re both relative pronouns in that they relate to another noun in a sentence. However, “which” is often placed before a comma. The only difference people will say is that “that” is often used with essential information:
The cat that belonged to Marian was always getting lost.
It’s up to the writer to decide that you must know that the cat belongs to Marian. In that case, the word “that” is used because the information about whom it belongs to is essential.
The cat, which was Marian’s, was always getting lost.
In this case, “which was Marian’s” is separated by commas and is not necessarily important information and could be left out of the sentence.
Still, there isn’t really a “rule” for it; it’s up to you.
Also, the word “that” has four uses. One as a demonstrative pronoun as in ”that is my cat”, one as a demonstrative adjective like ”that cat is mine”, one as a relative pronoun like “the cat that belonged to me was the best”, and one as a conjunction like “it was obvious that the cat hated me”. The latter can be omitted sometimes; you can just say “it was obvious the cat hated me”.
@casheroo Its 14
@DomincX
Awesome! How do you spell: sandwhich or sandwhitch???
@Tink1113
Sandwich. One “h”, no “t”. ;)
It’s also a place in England.
@Dominic there is a rule… the rule is that we use “that” only in restrictive clauses:
The cat that belonged to Marian was always getting lost.
And we use “which” in both restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses:
The cat which belonged to Marian was always getting lost.
The cat, which belonged to Marian, was always getting lost.
@DominicX – The sandwich was reportedly named for John Montague, the Fourth Earl of Sandwich (1718–1792), which is why it is both a food and a place in England. He didn’t want to break away from his gambling one night in 1762 long enough to eat so he had the waiter slap a bit of meat between two pieces of bread so he could eat but not get his hands greasy (hard to handle the cards with greasy hands).
And then there are the Sandwich Isles, known today as Hawaii. Captain James Cook originally named the islands in 1778, in honor of the same John Montague, 4th Earl of Sandwich, who was then First Lord of the British Admiralty, and Cook’s superior.
Old John was a busy guy, being a Satan Worshiper, “lecherous as a goat” and specializing in seducing virgins, in charge of the British Navy (which he reduced to chaos about the time of the American Revolution), and just plain crooked. He was known as the most disliked man in England.
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Well?
Yay!! My first A, I never thought I’d live to see the day… (I did get an A right??)
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