Are people confusing "it's" and "its" less, or is it just me?

[Bucky]

The old its/it's confusion used to bother me; I saw it everywhere. But lately it seems that I'm seeing fewer examples--even on the internet--of people putting in that gratuitous apostrophe. Or maybe I'm just noticing it less. Or maybe I'm noticing it just as much, but making less of a mental note of it.

Am I becoming jaded? Or am I becoming less anal about other people's common spelling errors. Is its/it's confusion even a spelling error or merely a punctuation error? Or could it be that I'm simply reading more grammatically intelligent websites these days--the more time you have to spare "browsing about" the web, the more likely you are to surf into amateur sites, after all.

Or perhaps I'm being too cynical about this. Is is possible that English-using humans are really doing better about its/it's confusion and that this is the outcome of a massive grassroots public education program to make people more aware of the differences between it's and its.

Of all these possiblilites, I certainly hope its the latter.

[soupkitchen]

1. Its just you

[Democrat 4 Ever]

6. Well, my two cents -

First, the spell check on this site really helps.

Second, probably for the first time in history a book on grammar and punctuation is on the best seller list - If you have not read, Eats, Shoots and Leavesyou are missing a good and funny (yes, funny) book that is really dedicated to clearing up the fuzziness of its it's, the errant comma, em or en dash and all the other symbols used to convey clarity, emotion and meaning. Should be a required book for every high school kid (and packed into boxes and sent along with those college students heading back to campus) to teach them early without boring them to tears.

"Oxymoronish" - funny book on punctuation written by an English author on the best seller list - who knew!

[Misunderestimator]

2. Its all a fantasy. Its/It's: there something about it's application

that just mystifies me. (tongue in cheek)

And you were just kidding in your last sentence, right? :D :bounce:

[Bucky]

4. Yes, I was just kidding right their

Irregardless of wheather any one got the gist.

[Misunderestimator]

7. LOL... I guess I misunderestimated you.

:D

[Gildor Inglorion]

3. It's getting better....now we need to work on "alright"

and "alot." While it is true that the purpose of language is to communicate, a person who consistently spells poorly is seldom taken seriously. (The pompous over-use of adverbs is quite another category altogether.) :donut:

[blondeatlast]

14. I despise the use of "alot," A (full space) LOT!

:mad: gggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...

[Pithlet]

15. My English 101 teacher

Actually told the class that 'alot' was okay; it didn't matter. I was stewing the whole time.

[JuniperLea]

5. i still see them

along with the misuse of 'their' and 'they're' and 'who' and 'whom' and for the life of me i can't understand how so many people think 'noone' is a word.

i'm an executive assistant and i have to correct grammar and spelling in the memos and reports of mba's and phd's... is it no wonder i rebel when posting here by giving my pinkies a break on the shift keys?

[Lady Effingbroke]

8. Noone?

Noone!

"I'm Henry the eighth I am
Henry the eighth I am, I am
I got married to the widow next door
She's been married seven times before
And every one was an Henry (Henry)
She wouldn't have a Willy or a Sam (no Sam)
I'm her eighth old man, I'm Henry
Henry the eighth I am

Second verse same as the first!"

[DS1]

16. Second verse is different from the first

I'm Jimmy Pop I am
Jimmity Jimmity Pop I am I am
See my name's not Hoover and I don't give a damn
And I got a different angle like a parellelogram
And you'll be all ears like a field of corn
I'll make you Dizzy like Gillespie as I toot my own horn
Like a No. 2 pencil I always got a point
You'll want to share it with friends like a poorly rolled joint
I'm Jimmy Pop y'all I'm Jimmy Pop y'all I'm an Alka Seltzer that's right you're a seagull
As I continue to expand your head is gonna burst
Leave a bad taste in your mouth like moldy Liverwurst
Like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre I'll get in your face
But then I'll brush you off like Aqua-Fresh toothpaste
Cause I'm letting off steam like a Chinese Laundromat
But I'm not a roll of Charmin so don't give me no crap
And I don't give a damn if you don't like me
Cause' I don't like you cause you're not like me
And I don't give a damn if you don't like me
Cause' I don't like you cause you're not like me
And I don't give a damn if you don't like me
Cause' I don't like you cause you're not like me

[miss_kitty]

9. your wrong. there doing it more. :)

[bkcc]

10. It is just you.

People's inability to distinguish between "it's" and "its" constantly amazes me. I see this mistake in national ads, newspapers...everywhere.

And don't even get me started on "their", "they're", and "there".

Oh. Another thing: would it be considered murder for choking people who use apostrophes when they want to make a word plural??

[blondeatlast]

13. On the apostrophe issue: yes, I believe so, but a pinkie twist

might not be cruel and unusual, depending on the SCOTUS makeup in the next administration.

[politicat]

18. apostrophe pluralization?

Like the bookstore that has since closed out in my town: Kat's Book's Tape's and CD's??

Is that what you mean?

Or are you complaining about the apostrophe possessive without an s like princess' boots or Dickens' chariot or Marlys' flowers?

Or about plural possessives? like flowers' stems or cookies' chips?

I'm not surprised that people write poorly when using possessives and apostrophes. Classes are bigger, school years are more fragmented, and teachers are expected to cover more material in shorter days. Grammar gets dropped.

And standardized tests don't help.

Pcat

[bkcc]

21. As in "How many pair's of shoe's do you own?"

People are lazy idiots.
And, as much as I would like to blame it all on our shitty educational system, there are older folks who do it too.

[louis c]

20. Are you shitting me

I think there is an entire generation that thinks George Washington is famous for inventing the dollar bill.

[barb162]

11. I see the mistake just as much if not more than a few years ago

Also see a hell of a lot of spelling errors.

[blondeatlast]

12. I think it's occurring less often, no grammatical pun intended.

I taught HS English for a while, nad it was a major pet peeve of mine, so I warned my students to use the words correctly.

Since you are here at DU, I think I can make a generalization that you frequent a better intellectual class of message board as well!

[UdoKier]

17. That you're opinion.

Its obvious to me that most peoples skills in using the apostrophe have improved.

They're grammar and speling his got better too.

Maybe their learning?


(When I see a quote like the last line I just want to say "Maybe their learning is WHAT? What about their learning?")


LOL.

[louis c]

19. It's opposite logic

Normally, all possessive nouns have an apostrophe, the cat's meow.

However, because of the contraction it is needing the same apostrophe, as in "it's logical to assume", the possessive lacks the apostrophe as in "the cat licks its paws", thereby defying our logic.

That's why it's so often wrong.

[jonnyblitz]

22. I do it all the time. My grammer, writing, spelling skills are pathetic

I am suprised I haven't been tombstoned for being a freeper because of it. I apologize to everyone who has to suffer through my posts. I am well read and know what's what, I just can't write worth a shit as I get older. I do make ALL the usual mistakes that everybody has as a pet peeve. (then/than, to/too, its/it's). I KNOW I DO. :(