Re: OT: Spelling errors

--- In iris-talk@y..., pbrooks@w... wrote:
> Speaking of spelling...the common error that irritates me most is 
> the confusion of its and it's.  Which is pretty easy to remember:
> It's is a shortened form of it is...."

Patricia, you are not alone.  I just sigh.  Not only "it's" 
and "its," but similiar confusion over "one's" and "ones," a parallel 
of the above construction--"one is" is "one's," whereas "belonging to 
one" is "ones"--and confusion of "you're" and "your," another 
parallel.  I cannot count how many times I have seen otherwise astute 
users of written English make these errors.  They all have the same 
root.  We were taught to use the apostrophe when making a 
possessive.  The rule, unfortunately, applies to nouns, not pronouns.

Then there's the homonyms of "their" and "they're" and "there."

Oy Weh!  I just sigh and try to hear what the author is trying to say 
and not let my literary perfectionism get in the way of fellowship 
and pleasure.  It's ("it is!") difficult, though.

Neil Mogensen  z 6b/7a near Asheville, NC


 

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index