It's true, every dog has its day.

[Sendraguy]

It’s true, every dog has its day

 

Or, the trouble with the possessive pronoun third person!

 

 

 

In ancient times Spartan youths were flogged mercilessly in public to show how tough they were. If they flinched the crowd would mock them and the boys wanted to die of shame. As a child I attended an English Grammar School. If I ever mistook the personal pronoun for the contraction of ‘it is’ I was dragged from the seat by my hair, taken into the hall and beaten with sticks, tied to a railing outdoors and left in the freezing rain, repeating by rote ‘I must reverence the heritage of William Shakespeare and John Milton’ * I do, and so, with respect to them here we go....

 

It’s = ‘it is’, or ‘it has’ = verb contraction

 

Its = of it, belonging to it = third person possessive pronoun

 

Separate parts of speech.

 

 

 

Try this,

 

Its true, every dog has it’s day

 

To me, that means,

 

True of it, every dog has it is day

 

‘Get a life’ I hear you scream. ‘Who cares?’ I do, and I believe that either everything matters, or nothing does. I realise that, in their eagerness to post slabs of text some authors overlook the erroneous apostrophe; all the more reason for vigilance - Spellcheck will not pick it up!

 

Here’s a failsafe way to avoid this mistake:

 

If you mean to say ‘it is’ or ‘it has’ then try writing them out in full. All the other ‘its’ that can’t be read as ‘it is’ or ‘it has’ must be possessive pronouns.

 

 

 

Of course, if your bag is writing in a patois that resembles Text/Rap with a smattering of Bumper Speak thrown in then it may not matter. But I think it should. Hate me by all means, shoot the messenger, I court no easy popularity, but please, PLEASE, for the sake of the English language - that glory of glories, without equal on planet earth- take care with the apostrophe!

 

 

 

Hope this helps.

 

Coming soon, how to pluralise nouns ending with ‘y’

 

 

 

* or Alfred, Lord Tennyson, if it was his birthday.

 

 

[Marzipan]

It’s true, every dog has its day

 

Or, the trouble with the possessive pronoun third person!

 

 

 

In ancient times Spartan youths were flogged mercilessly in public to show how tough they were. If they flinched the crowd would mock them and the boys wanted to die of shame. As a child I attended an English Grammar School. If I ever mistook the personal pronoun for the contraction of ‘it is’ I was dragged from the seat by my hair, taken into the hall and beaten with sticks, tied to a railing outdoors and left in the freezing rain, repeating by rote ‘I must reverence the heritage of William Shakespeare and John Milton’ * I do, and so, with respect to them here we go....

 

It’s = ‘it is’, or ‘it has’ = verb contraction

 

Its = of it, belonging to it = third person possessive pronoun

 

Separate parts of speech.

 

 

 

Try this,

 

Its true, every dog has it’s day

 

To me, that means,

 

True of it, every dog has it is day

 

‘Get a life’ I hear you scream. ‘Who cares?’ I do, and I believe that either everything matters, or nothing does. I realise that, in their eagerness to post slabs of text some authors overlook the erroneous apostrophe; all the more reason for vigilance - Spellcheck will not pick it up!

 

Here’s a failsafe way to avoid this mistake:

 

If you mean to say ‘it is’ or ‘it has’ then try writing them out in full. All the other ‘its’ that can’t be read as ‘it is’ or ‘it has’ must be possessive pronouns.

 

 

 

Of course, if your bag is writing in a patois that resembles Text/Rap with a smattering of Bumper Speak thrown in then it may not matter. But I think it should. Hate me by all means, shoot the messenger, I court no easy popularity, but please, PLEASE, for the sake of the English language - that glory of glories, without equal on planet earth- take care with the apostrophe!

 

 

 

Hope this helps.

 

Coming soon, how to pluralise nouns ending with ‘y’

 

 

 

* or Alfred, Lord Tennyson, if it was his birthday.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the lecture! You really did clarify the grammar of it's and its in an enjoyable way.

[Sendraguy]

Thanks for the lecture! You really did clarify the grammar of it's and its in an enjoyable way.

 

 

LOL! You're very welcome. By the way my cat says hello too, he's called 'Cooper'......

Dave

[Tipdin]

You are correct, Sir. This issue should matter a great deal to one who aspires to writing greatness. (Or even mediocrity!)

 

Another tip: Most publishers frown on the use contractions when not required by the voice of a character.

[Sara Alva]

You are correct, Sir. This issue should matter a great deal to one who aspires to writing greatness. (Or even mediocrity!)

 

Another tip: Most publishers frown on the use contractions when not required by the voice of a character.

 

Oh? That is very interesting.