Saturday, October 17, 2009

Your/You're

"You're basic brain-dead game of instant gratification."
"Your probably wondering why I am telling you this."

Ok people. This is the 190th time I have seen this screw-up. It is not acceptable. At all.

IT DEFIES COMMON SENSE AND SIMPLE GRAMMAR.

Your = possessive (as in, 'your ball', 'your dog', 'your computer')
Example: "You have my bat in your hair"

You're = contraction of 'You Are'
Example: "You're not so good at grammar yourself."

It is not that hard, guys. Please. You look ridiculous when you type "Your an idiot" because I do not own an idiot. Similarly, "You're cat" is silly because it really says "You are cat" and I am clearly not a Neko.

Here, I'll give you a simple rule of thumb.

Step 1. Read your sentence carefully.

Step 2. In the spot where you use 'your/you're', ask:

"Am I referring to some material object my conversational partner owns or possesses?"

Step 3. If the answer is 'yes', then use 'YOUR'.
If the answer is 'no', then use 'YOU'RE'.

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