And now a word from the Grammar Police:

[ddeclue]

It's and its are NOT interchangeable

It's means "it is"

Its X is the possessive for it as in "The X belonging to it".

Thanks and we now return you to your regularly scheduled program.

[Bluzmann57]

1. It don't matter.

Er, I mean, it doesn't matter.

[Occulus]

47. This thread could also be titled "Why the foniks method doesn't work"

I hate hate hate phonics-based reading education. It makes people think they can sound out the word in English, in every case.

You can't.

two/too
they're/their/there
its/it's
your/you're
lose/loose

Of course, the overwhelming prevalence of tiny keyboards on phones is also giving us:

4 instead of 'for'
U instead of 'you'

and other things.

I'm sure speakers of ASL are bewildered at this point. The ASL grammar seems to be seeping into nonstandard 'lttl kbd' "English":

"went to store"
"rented video, Batman"

etc. C twitter 4 moar. ;)

Fifty years from now, English as a written language among the 'commons' will be very different from what it is today. None of this is an inherently bad thing; English, as we all should know, is a living language, and it can, has, and will continue to change, sometimes radically. It's just that, to see it happen so fast.... it's discombobulating, to say the least.

I used to pride myself on my writing skills, but lately, most people (especially younger people) don't have the patience to read something written in a coherent and grammatically-correct manner.

[question everything]

78. Apparently these shortened texting terms are making their way to papers

and some teachers are putting their foot down.

Yes, your example of 4, U, LOL and others.

[CTyankee]

85. We ESOL teachers are also seeing the disappearance of the 3rd person singular in the

present tense. The immigrants I tutor invariably say "he go."

And some of my students will also use the present tense when speaking in the past tense. My Chinese student does this and I correct her each time. She also mixes up "he" and "she" so conversations with her are difficult. But I think she has calcified bad habits and is able to get away with it just enough to get by...

[SpiralHawk]

2. Glenn Beck made you write that, didn't he?

What are you, some kind of anti-American grammarer or something?

[saracat]

3. my favorites are the folks who think "lose" and" loose" are

interchangable! That drives me crazy!

[MoonRiver]

13. My pet peeve is the misuse of "their" & "they're."

:banghead:

Edited for grammar, and not proof reading: :blush:

[inna]

33. that, and your vs. you're

:)

[MoonRiver]

41. Yep, that's also an infuriating one.

And they happen so much!

[EOTE]

94. Your vs. you're? Your kidding me!

People still get that one wrong?

[PSzymeczek]

107. They're, their,

and there.

[Maru Kitteh]

119. Their, they're and there. Yes, that makes me crazy too.

[damntexdem]

18. Yeah, talk about lose cannons!

;-)

[eppur_se_muova]

80. That's "canons". :D

:D



The "primate of Brazil" is not in the pic, apparently. :)

[CTyankee]

86. Oh, yes, the Pachelbel Canon in D. Beautiful... nt

[Vickers]

22. I think that those two are used here incorrectly as a spoof on

the repukes who seem to ALWAYS get them mixed up.

Seriesly.

:P

[saracat]

27. Actually, they are not.I have seen this usage in some very well written

articles by some professional writers. And it appears everywhere on the nets in "serious" conversations.

[Vickers]

75. Putting quotes around "serious" tells me all I need to know.

;)

[Nye Bevan]

4. A blog devoted to this subject:-

(Not just it's/its but apostrophe abuse in general)

http://www.apostropheabuse.com/

[berni_mccoy]

5. Your last sentence is not grammatically correct.

It should be written as:

"Thanks. We now return you to your regularly scheduled program."

[Hawkowl]

20. Que?

Two sentences joined by the coordinate conjunction "and", no? I don't think you have to break the two sentences up to be grammatically correct. It's just a choice of style.

[damntexdem]

23. But that's two sentences.

Now, we'll have to double your sentence!

[Rainngirl]

39. and if you want to get REALLY anal...

you would add a hyphen to say: "regularly-scheduled program." tee hee

[MorningGlow]

49. Actually, no hyphen there

Hyphens are not used after an adverb ending in "ly".

Sincerely,
Another Grammar Cop :evilgrin:

[Sal Minella]

52. You are SCARY! You sprung a new one on me!

So it's "frequent-flier miles" but "frequently delayed flights."

Never too old to learn. Hope I can remember this longer than ten mi

[MorningGlow]

53. Exactly!

Gold star for you. :)

Hell, I'm a professional writer and editor, and stuff still gets by me on a regular basis.

[Rainngirl]

58. edited

You are correct! My bad about adverbs (although they ARE used when the adverb is connected to a participle)! They are also generally used when the second word ends in "ed" or "self" is the first word, and a whole bunch of other compound words. Okay, I'm done now.

[Ignis]

104. Why does America hate the adverb?

This is tangential, but I have come to loathe the contemporary (to put a non-ageist spin on it) habit of dropping the "-ly" suffix from adverbs.

Please don't ask me, "Serious?!" unless my name is Lee. :banghead:

[Prometheus Bound]

112. I guess "Serious?" could be short for "Are you serious?"

[Prometheus Bound]

113. I think 'you' is redundant.

[BlooInBloo]

6. People who care about getting things right are not police, nazis or anything else...

They're just not illiterate idiots, nor especially interested in stroking the (deservedly) fragile egos of those who are.

There's actually quite a big difference.

[elocs]

7. Picky, picky. What next, complaining about having a word's letters in the proper order?

If something is important enough to be communicated, then it should at least be given enough care to be communicated properly. To do otherwise communicates a lot about the writer.

[Sal Minella]

8. Before you sit back and put your feet up,

could you please take the birch twigs to people who think "where" and "were" are socially acceptable variant spellings of the same word, and also to those who think "women" and "woman" are interchangeable.

For today, I'm not even mentioning "role-roll," "cite-site," "toe-tow," "reign-rein," or "diffuse-defuse."

Not mentioning those today. Just were-where and woman-women for today.

Than Kew.

[TheDebbieDee]

15. Don't mention marshall - martial either.........

[MorningGlow]

50. "A women" drives me NUTS

How hard can it be to remember that the plural of "man" is "men", then just add "wo-" to those? :banghead:

And may I also add another big pet peeve of mine: "Lightening" is not the flash that comes before thunder. That's "lightning." "Lightening" is what the sky does just before the sun rises.

:rant:

[Maru Kitteh]

122. "affect -effect"

[Obamanaut]

9. There is no such word as 'alot'. If one says an item is 'very unique'

does that mean it is even more rare than 'one of a kind'?

If some object is in 'close proximity' to another, are there other objects that are 'far proximity'?

If we name a list of three or four items or topics, and the last one is introduced as 'last, but not least' why do we not start off the list with 'first, but not foremost'?

[damntexdem]

29. Just because it's uniquer doesn't mean that it's the uniquest.

And lashed but not leased, what about which-that?

[Sal Minella]

87. I think you misspelled "uniquiest" but I don't want to seem overly critical . . .

I blush to admit being clueless about the "which-that" you mention -- would you please give me an example?

[MichaelHarris]

10. F^%k

the grammar police and the spelling horse they rode in on.

[damntexdem]

30. Actually, the spelling horse threw a shoe, so ...

they rode in on the pronunciation pony.

[MichaelHarris]

70. As long as

the Comma Cobra leaves me the hell alone I'm cool.

[Individualist]

11. Martial, not marshall

would have, not would of
there when the poster means their
your when the poster means you're

When I read those, it's like hearing fingernails on a chalkboard.

[TheDebbieDee]

19. Oooops! I didn't read far enough into the thread

before posting about marshall - martial. Sorry.

[TexasObserver]

62. "would of" is one of my many pet peeves

your, you're
their, there, they're
would of

We're growing a nation of people unable to handle rules of communication.

[maxsolomon]

12. "Kudos" is not the plural of a "Kudo"

& for christ's sake, it's pronounced Koo-doss, not Koo-doze.

[Lancer]

14. The poor apostrophe.

It's so hard for so many to remember its purpose.

[damntexdem]

32. Then they should read the Acts of the Apostrophes.

If they don't, then I'm colon them out.

[Sal Minella]

34. How obstensively farcicle of you . . .

[damntexdem]

16. My grammar never belonged to the police.

Neither did my grampar.

[safeinOhio]

17. Alternative grammar and spelling

are so hip and cool. Don't cha just luv em?

[nadinbrzezinski]

21. NOOOOO NOT THE GRAMMAR POLICE

:-)

By the way my bane is sit and seat, don't ask

[zorahopkins]

93. I LOVE The Grammar Police!

I just love the grammar police.

Its just a joy to sea there work.

[TheDebbieDee]

24. Should have, not should of........

[Cleita]

25. I have known writers who are often confused with that one.

I sometimes forget and apostrophe the possessive when I'm in a hurry.

[CurtEastPoint]

26. But isn't it the principal of it that matters? n/t

[Sal Minella]

40. . . .

[TrogL]

28. ***BBBZZZZ*** - punctuation, please

It's and its are NOT interchangeable

"It's" and "its" are NOT interchangeable.

[Kadie]

31. !!!

:spray:

[CakeGrrl]

35. I'd like to add: It's not "whinning", it's "whining"

If there's a different spelling outside the U.S., my apologies.

[Ezlivin]

36. Proper use of grammar and correct spelling are signs that you are an elitist

The hoi polloi doesn't have time for that.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

37. Your to series. Losen up you're tie or yul loose yur mine.

[derby378]

38. I'm gonna possess your ass on my fist -in your face

Go away! 'Batin!



I love Idiocracy...!

[Call Me Wesley]

42. Your' must be oligarhy!

Its the truth!

[Odin2005]

43. Technically that's an ORTHOGRAPHICAL (spelling) mistake, not a grammar mistake.

It's a very common mistake caused by the fact that "it" inflects for the genitive case in the regular manner, and the regular genitive is the -'s ending everywhere else.

[ddeclue]

44. I classify apostrophe abuse as grammar not spelling.

[Chemisse]

45. I used to do some editing of press releases sent into the local paper

And the its/it's mistake was one of the most common, along with their, there, they're confusion and to/too.

Somebody didn't pay attention in fourth grade.

[frebrd]

46. Thank You! n/t

[MoonRiver]

48. I notice some illiterate unrec'd you.

When I last looked you had 3 recs, now you're down to 2. :(

[DawgHouse]

51. You're gonna love September 24, National Punctuation Day!

http://www.nationalpunctuationday.com/

[happyslug]

54. What no ode to my spell check???

http://www7.taosnet.com/ebear/ode.html

I have a spelling checquer
It came with my pea sea
It plane lee marks four my revue
Miss steaks aye can knot sea

Eye ran this poem threw it
Your sure real glad two no
It's vary polished in it's weigh
My checker tolled me sew

A checker is a bless sing
It freeze yew lodes of thyme
It helps me awl stiles two reed
And aides me when aye rime

To rite with care is quite a feet
Of witch won should be proud
And wee mussed dew the best wee can
Sew flaws are knot aloud

And now bee cause my spelling
is checked with such grate flare
Their are know faults with in my site
Of nun eye am a wear

Each frays comes posed up on my screen
Eye trussed to be a joule
The checker poured o'er every word
To cheque sum spelling rule

That's why aye brake in two averse
By righting wants too pleas
Sow now ewe sea why aye dew prays
Such soft wear for pea seas


Another Version:

Ode to a Spell Checker
I have a spelling checker
I disk covered four my PC.
It plane lee marks four my revue
Miss steaks aye can knot see.

Eye ran this poem threw it.
Your sure real glad two no.
Its very polished in its weigh,
My checker tolled me sew.

A checker is a blessing.
It freeze yew lodes of thyme.
It helps me right awl stiles two reed,
And aides me when aye rime.

Each frays comes posed up on my screen
Eye trussed too bee a joule.
The checker pours o'er every word
To cheque sum spelling rule.

Bee fore wee rote with checkers
Hour spelling was inn deck line,
Butt now when wee dew have a laps,
Wee are not maid too wine.

And now bee cause my spelling
Is checked with such grate flare,
There are know faults in awl this peace,
Of nun eye am a wear.

To rite with care is quite a feet
Of witch won should be proud,
And wee mussed dew the best wee can,
Sew flaws are knot aloud.

That's why eye brake in two averse
Caws Eye dew want too please.
Sow glad eye yam that aye did bye
This soft wear four pea seas.
http://people.usd.edu/~bwjames/humor/spell.html

[Canuckistanian]

55. Thank you, boss ddeclue

I'll try to get my mind right.

}(

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

56. Your First Two Sentences Are Missing Periods.

Oh, and your post is really sad...

[DireStrike]

57. 90% of the time, LEAVE THE APOSTROPHE OUT

Unless you're writing a resume or something equally formal, there's no reason to use apostrophes.

Lots of communiques omit punctuation. It is only the POSITIVE mistake that raises people's hackles.

If you don't know, let it go. But you should know after reading this OP.

[Mrs. Overall]

59. My pet peeve is misuse of the conditional--

People using, "if I was president..." instead of, "if I were president..."

I think using "was" in a conditional clause is becoming more acceptable, but I don't like it.

[omega minimo]

60. Its confusing

:evilgrin: There their

[subcomhd]

61. Cop Talk - My partner and myself......nt

[Roland99]

63. Your write. People our always doing that. Their sew stupid.

[Dora]

64. If we're correcting...

"Its X" is the possessive for it as in "The X belonging to it."

[yawnmaster]

109. "Its X" is the possessive for it, as in "The X belonging to it."

I believe a comma should be in there.

[Control-Z]

65. "would of"

Using "would of" instead of "would have" is a common mistake made here on DU, and it drives me crazy.

What would of happened?
What would have happened?

Edit: Oops. I should have read the thread before complaining! I have a question, though, for anyone who can give me a simple answer. I am never sure how to use affect and effect. Thanks.

[subcomhd]

71. The verb affect leaves an effect. It happens first and a comes before e.

I thought it would affect me but it didn't have much of an effect.

[Control-Z]

90. Why, thank you.

Your clear and simple explanation is exactly what I was hoping for. I must have missed school the day they taught this lesson. Lol. Seriously, though, not knowing which word to use has always bothered me.

[subcomhd]

92. por nada nt

[PSzymeczek]

116. Effect can, on occasion, be used as a verb.

As a verb, it means "to bring about", as in: to effect change.

[subcomhd]

125. you are correct. nt

[HCE SuiGeneris]

72. Affect vs effect

Home » Library»Grammar»Style and Usage
Affect vs. Effect Grammar Rules
From > http://www.yourdictionary.com/grammar-rules/affect-effect-grammar.html

In order to understand the correct situation in which to use the word affect or effect, the first thing one must do is have a clear understanding of what each word means. According to yourDictionary.com, the word Affect means:

1. To have an influence on or effect a change in: Inflation affects the buying power of the dollar.
2. To act on the emotions of; touch or move.
3. To attack or infect, as a disease: Rheumatic fever can affect the heart.

Effect

The word effect has a different meaning. Here is the meaning according to yourDictionary.com:

1. Something brought about by a cause or agent; a result.
2. The power to produce an outcome or achieve a result; influence: The drug had an immediate effect on the pain. The government's action had no effect on the trade imbalance.
3. A scientific law, hypothesis, or phenomenon: the photovoltaic effect. |
4. Advantage; avail: used her words to great effect in influencing the jury.
5. The condition of being in full force or execution: a new regulation that goes into effect tomorrow.
6.
7. Something that produces a specific impression or supports a general design or intention: The lighting effects emphasized the harsh atmosphere of the drama.
8. A particular impression: large windows that gave an effect of spaciousness.
9. Production of a desired impression: spent lavishly on dinner just for effect.
10. The basic or general meaning; import: He said he was greatly worried, or words to that effect.

Grammar Rules for Affect and Effect

Now that we have the two definitions, how do we know which word to use? Here are a few suggestions to keep in mind:

1. If you are talking about a result, then use the word "effect."

* Example: What effect did the loss have on the team?

2. It is appropriate to use the word "effect" if one of these words is used immediately before the word: into, no, take, the, any, an, or and.

* Example: The prescribed medication had no effect on the patient's symptoms.
* Example: In analyzing a situation, it is important to take the concepts of cause and effect into consideration.

3. If you want to describe something that was caused or brought about, the right word to use is effect.

* Example: The new manager effected some positive changes in the office. (This means that the new manager caused some positive changes to take place in the office.)

4. Affect can be used as a noun to describe facial expression.

* Example: The young man with schizophrenia had a flat affect.
* Example: The woman took the news of her husband's sudden death with little affect.

5. Affect can also be used as a verb. Use it when trying to describe influencing someone or something rather than causing it.

* Example: How does the crime rate affect hiring levels by local police forces?
* Example: The weather conditions will affect the number of people who come to the county fair this year.

[Control-Z]

91. I also read somewhere

that the words are interchangeable, at times.

[Ignis]

105. "Yeah, yeah. Could of, would of, should of!"

Kill me now!

[PSzymeczek]

117. I think this results from

the misuse of the contractions could've, would've, should've.

[Ignis]

127. I think you're right.

But it still grates on the ear/eye. ;)

Here in Northern CA, we have to deal with both "hella" and "hell of." I'm not quite sure which causes me to twitch more.

[wroberts189]

66. IMHO The grammar here is a thousand times better then over at freeperville. nt

[Deja Q]

67. Well, we can try to make it better by even a larger margin...

:)

[wroberts189]

68. I do my best but even I forget that damn apostrophe sometimes. :) nt

[Oeditpus Rex]

79. No, it isn't

Granted, the amount of reading I do there isn't enough for a true representation. But, from what I have read, they're the better grammarians.



Glass houses... :scared:

[wroberts189]

81. Well to be honest I avoid such places most times. What I have seen is always filled with errors. nt

[Ignis]

106. Not "then"; "than" over at FR.

"Then" is used to show a linear progression through time--e.g., "We when to dinner, then we when to a movie."

"Than" is used to show comparison or contrast--e.g., "Democrats are smarter than Republicans."

But we do it out of love! :hi:

[VOX]

69. NO SUCH WORD >>>>>>> alot <<<<<<<< NO SUCH WORD

Don't wanna be a grammar nazi -- there's enough crap to deal with in this world. But "alot" -- and I see that a lot -- folks, there just isn't any such word as "alot." Ever.

Then there's "noone" (sic) for no one, but that's another post. Whew. :(

[wroberts189]

83. So many people use it.. it makes it a word anyway. nt

[Sal Minella]

84. No.

Frequent usage makes it a spelling or grammar mistake commonly made by the ignorant -- a lesser error than "amnety," perhaps, but of the same family.

[wroberts189]

95. But you know what the word means though. Like "Ain't"

I ain't seen any use of ain't in a while so maybe someday alot of people will no longer use "alot".

:)

[PSzymeczek]

118. I do it

because it was my major in undergrad school.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

73. THEN v. THAN! (n/t)

[yowzayowzayowza]

74. Itz not really itz problem.

:evilgrin:

I got yer dangling possessive rite here!

[Oeditpus Rex]

76. While we're at it, some folks here really should learn to spell 'amendment'

All errors look bad, but — well, we're sposta know that gummint stuff. :patriot:

[question everything]

77. Neither are you're and your

and apostrophe is not used to convert a singular to a plural form. The plural of a book is books, not books' or book's.

[Sheltiemama]

82. You've warmed the cockles of my copy-editing heart.

[Toasterlad]

88. This Is My Biggest Grammatical Failing.

It can NEVER get this straight. At least when I mess up "you're" and "your" (which I do constantly), I usually realize it in time to go back and correct it. But I'm ALWAYS messing up "its" and "it's".

[Sal Minella]

89. Affect vs. Effect

A simpler explanation, maybe.

“Affect” is almost always a verb (as “modify” is a verb).
“Effect” is almost always a noun (as “modification” is a noun).

“The medication had no effect on the symptoms.”
“The medication did not affect the symptoms.”

“What effect did the loss have on the team?”
“How was the team affected by the loss?”

“The government's action had no effect on the trade imbalance.”
“The trade imbalance was not affected by the government's action.”


Rarely, “effect” is a verb (as “create” is a verb: “creation” is a noun.)
“Rheumatic fever can effect (create) changes in heart function.”
“The new manager effected (caused) some positive changes in the office.”


Very rarely, “affect” is a noun (as “appearance” is a noun).
“The sedative caused the patient to exhibit a flattened affect.”
(pronounced AFF-ect in this usage, most common in medical writing)

[amborin]

101. or "affect" as in "emotion" as in, "what was his affect at that time?" n/t

[amborin]

102. should be: "between you and me" and NOT 'between you and I"

this really bugs me

i hear it more and more, or some similar variant

these prepositions (for, between, etc...) take the objective case

[amborin]

103. and "it is SHE" or "it is HE" NOT 'it is him' or 'it is her' arggghhhhhh

the verb 'to be' takes the nominative case, not the objective case

[mwb970]

96. Nobody has mentioned *my* pet peeve.

Second only to "it's" (can Americans really not spell a three-letter word in their own language?) is "They gave a gift to my wife and I". Argh!! I hear this mistake every single day, on the radio, on the TV, on the computer, everywhere.

Folks.

They gave a gift to my wife.
They gave a gift to me.
They gave a gift to my wife and me.

It's easy! You don't change "me" to "I" just because there is an "and" there.

Worse still is the double error of "It came as a total surprise to he and I". Please! "To he"? How can that be English? Think!

[amborin]

111. exactly!

[ManiacJoe]

97. If we could just get a grammar checker

added to the spelling checker....

At least we have a spelling checker.

[Sal Minella]

98. Dependence on spelling checkers is what causes most of the problems

iterated above.

I've always told people, "If you depend on spell-check, then you REALLY need a proofreader."

[ManiacJoe]

100. grammar checker = proof reader.

[Ignis]

108. The trouble is that English is an exceptional language.

And I don't mean exceptional in the "City on a Hill" sense. ;)

[PSzymeczek]

120. Microsoft Word used to have that.

But my computer with Word is in storage...(sigh)

[scheming daemons]

99. You're such a looser

;-)

[Manifestor_of_Light]

110. "grizzly" versus "grisly".

It was a grizzly crime = a bear did it.

[ScreamingMeemie]

114. Oh get over it. People screw up. But for the grace of someone go I

and all...

If you can read it and understand it, shut up about it already.

Have a nice day.

[Maru Kitteh]

124. Sensitive.

[ScreamingMeemie]

126. No, not me. I'd call the idiots who get bent about punctuation, especially

when quite a few of the posts are typed in the heat of the moment are sensitve. Wouldn't you? Its, It's... I mean really. Would that my life were so perfect I'd have time to be bitching about that.

Have a nice day.

[donco6]

115. "I could care less"

That one always gets me.

[PSzymeczek]

121. an attempt at irony,

I guess.

[seabeyond]

123. mine is its and its even when its it is. dont like to bother with the '. too much work. lol

now what.