English teacher

Last spring I wrote a weekly series of posts called "English teacher." Each post contained a small grammar lesson. Then school let out for the summer, and the English teacher put away her books. Several people have asked me about the series, and school's back in session for my kids, so I decided to put on my English teacher hat again.

Each week I'll write about a point of English grammar--something I've noticed troubles many writers, or something about which I've been asked a question. I'd love to make this series a blessing to you, so please let me know if you have any questions!

Today let's look at one of the most useful--but also one of the most troublesome--words in our language: the tiny little pronoun "it." Actually, "it" isn't troubling by itself--but when writers need to add "s" or " 's" to this little word, it becomes a heap of trouble for even some very smart people. Let's see if we can clear this up.

Here's the source of the trouble: our brains automatically associate apostrophes with possessives. And it is true that we form possessives of nouns by using apostrophes. Examples:

Jack's car

the woman's sweater

the writer's blog

See all those nouns followed by " 's"? All possessive, right?

But, friends, pronouns are different. You never use an apostrophe to form the possessive of a personal pronoun. Examples:

his car; the car is his

her sweater; the sweater is hers

your blog; the blog is yours

See? Not an apostrophe in sight.

"It" is a personal pronoun. And just like with the other personal pronouns, you never use an apostrophe to form the possessive of "it." Never, never, never. The possessive of "it" is "its." No apostrophe.

We need to remember that apostrophes are also used to form contractions, those handy little words that are formed when two words are fused together but in which a letter is missing. We use them all the time: "Can not" becomes "can't"; "I am" becomes "I'm"; "do not" becomes "don't." And we need to retrain our brains to realize that, in every circumstance, "it is" becomes "it's." It's a simple rule, really: every time you see "it's," read "it is."

Got that?

it's = it is

Before you use the word "it's" in a sentence, make sure that what you mean is "it is." If you simply mean to say "belonging to it," then use the word "its."

Examples:

It's a beautiful ring! (Right! It IS a beautiful ring.)

Do you know what it's worth? (Right! Do you know what it IS worth?)

You should have someone appraise it's value. (WRONG! You don't mean to say "appraise it is value." You need the possessive "its" here, not the contraction "it's.")

Now, your turn:

1. I think _______ (its or it's) going to be a great conference.
2. The cat licked ______ (its or it's) paws.
3. _______ (Its or It's) sad that so many people are confused by this little word.
4. Perhaps they don't understand _______ (its or it's) worth.

If you answered

1. it's
2. its
3. It's
4. its

you've got it! Remember, when in doubt, always ask yourself if you mean to say "it is" before using "it's."

**Note: I'm a certified English teacher of English grammar. I firmly believe that the rules of English grammar are important not because I'm interested in the rules--who really cares about rules??--but because they help us communicate with each other. After all, the purpose of language is communication, and knowing some rules of grammar can help us communicate effectively. Read more here if you're interested. And please let me know if you have any questions! If you have a particular grammar question, feel free to e-mail me at RichellaP (at) gmail (dot) com. I'd be so happy to help you if I can!

**I'm joining Amanda (who has awesome communication skills, by the way) at Serenity Now for her Weekend Blogging Reading party. Thanks for being such a great hostess, Amanda!