# For Fuck's Sake, "It's" means It Is, "Its" means "belonging to it"! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 14, 2007, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823 "2007-03-14T00:19:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823/21 "2007-03-14T01:37:09Z")
That’s okay, **Amp** - we Strong Badians\* have to stay together. \*[sub]Used to represent “fans of Strong Bad,” not “citizens of Strong Badia.” As we all know, Strong Badia’s population is tire.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823/22 "2007-03-14T01:46:20Z")
[QUOTE=Eva Luna] Alternately, here’s a [memory aid for the visually inclined.](http://www.angryflower.com/bobsqu.gif) [/QUOTE] There was another thread about [apostrophes](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=411251) recently. It seems that some jokers in England took issue with one of Bob’s points. They thought that it was acceptable to make plurals of things like VCR’s with the apostrophe. Bob has come out in favor recently of just dropping the whole [thing](http://www.angryflower.com/destro.html). ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823/23 "2007-03-14T03:02:02Z")
**Rickjay** , thats a very good point you raze. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823/24 "2007-03-14T04:23:26Z")
Why is it when people start rational threads like this, half or more of the replies respond with doofus spellings or other punctuation or grammatical mistakes? I use the contraction rule myself. If it sounds stupid if you put “it is” in the sentence, then it’s the wrong its. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823/25 "2007-03-14T04:29:47Z")
[QUOTE=Equipoise] Why is it when people start rational threads like this, half or more of the replies respond with doofus spellings or other punctuation or grammatical mistakes? . [/QUOTE] 'cause I’m pretty fucking good at typos asnd stuff. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823/26 "2007-03-14T04:58:11Z")
[QUOTE=Equipoise] Why is it when people start rational threads like this, half or more of the replies respond with doofus spellings or other punctuation or grammatical mistakes? [/QUOTE] Because there’s not much to argue about. After the first few people say, I agree, the rest either make jokes or the thread is about done. Are you saying that someone might come in and give a real argument that the rules of grammar and punctuation shouldn’t apply here? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823/27 "2007-03-14T05:48:36Z")
[QUOTE=Equipoise] I use the contraction rule myself. If it sounds stupid if you put “it is” in the sentence, then it’s the wrong its. [/QUOTE] It’s got to be more complicated than that. Doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823/28 "2007-03-14T06:39:55Z")
These threads should be lumped with the _outrage 'o the day_ threads. Someone misspelled something, someone put a puppy in a oven, won’t someone think of the children. Blah-blah. What next? A or an? There or they’re? I or me? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823/29 "2007-03-14T07:56:58Z")
Does it really matter? no Is it understandable? yes Or are you just being anal? yes 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823/30 "2007-03-14T08:34:57Z")
[QUOTE=RickJay] Lots of posters like to babble about how SDMB regulars are smarter than your average bear. Given the rampant misuse of “it’s” and “its” here recently, I doubt it. [/QUOTE] At least dopers generally know the difference between your/you’re, they’re/their/there, to/too/two. That’s more than you can say for almost any other message board. Or any chatroom. Or many small-business websites. Or an email from most corporate executives. First get basic spelling down. Then sort out the homophones. “Could of” and “all intensive purposes”, in addition to the ones listed above, are particularly egregious offenders. Then learn where to place a comma, and more importantly, where _not_ to place a comma. When the average Joe gets done with all this, I’ll make time in my schedule to complain about it’s. ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823/31 "2007-03-14T10:57:25Z")
Aren’t they both contractions? The apostrophe-s in “Peter’s jacket” indicates a contraction of “Peter _his_ jacket”. So the possessive “its” is the shortened form of “it _his_” and the lack of apostrophe is pretty arbitrary. So fuck yew awl. ---
**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823/32 "2007-03-14T12:17:48Z")
Here, I’m going to throw this out because it’s been bugging me for years, and it bugged me again last night: You know CoinStar machines? Where you go to redeem all your silver at the supermarket? If you put too many coins in too quickly, the screen flashes a message: “MY YOU’VE GOT A LOT OF COINS …” AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! Put a fucking comma in there, damn yer eyes! After how many revisions of the software, no-one has caught that?!? Hm. Getting that off my chest doesn’t seem to have worked. I’m gonna bitch about this error to my dying day. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823/33 "2007-03-14T12:21:29Z")
[QUOTE=Qadgop the Mercotan] My method of remembering: We don’t write _hi’s_ nor _her’s_ as a possessive form, so we shouldn’t write _it’s_ as a possessive form. [/QUOTE] Excellent! And grammatically appropriate. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823/34 "2007-03-14T12:23:36Z")
[QUOTE=Seven] What next? A or an? There or they’re? I or me? [/QUOTE] They’re must be an hundred things that bother you and I. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823/35 "2007-03-14T12:31:08Z")
Here’s how I remember it: When is it “it’s”? When it is “it is”. When is it “its”? When it isn’t “it is”. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823/36 "2007-03-14T12:42:29Z")
What about when it’s _Cousin It_ from the Addams Family? What then? [sub]OK, OK - I know, it’s Cousin Itt[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823/37 "2007-03-14T12:46:21Z")
[QUOTE=BobLibDem] Here’s how I remember it: When is it “it’s”? When it is “it is”. When is it “its”? When it isn’t “it is”. [/QUOTE] Your not helping. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823/38 "2007-03-14T13:29:08Z")
[QUOTE=as\_u\_wish] They’re you go. [/QUOTE] **As\_you\_wish** , I would expect someone who can’t even spell his (her?) own username right, to respond like this. U R going str8 2 hell! ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823/39 "2007-03-14T13:37:10Z")
This thread has really peaked my interest in the apostrophe. ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823/40 "2007-03-14T13:40:44Z")
[QUOTE=Daithi Lacha] You know CoinStar machines? Where you go to redeem all your silver at the supermarket? If you put too many coins in too quickly, the screen flashes a message: “MY YOU’VE GOT A LOT OF COINS …” [/quote] [Hi, Jack] Am I the only one that finds this funny? I get this image in my mind of someone dumping a bucket of coins in this thing and it printing on the screen, “My you’ve got a lot of coins … shiny, pretty coins.” Or, in keeping with the grammatical butchery, without the comma. And maybe spelled with “coin’s.” [/Bye, Jack] That said, I come across its/it’s misuse every damn day, along with other, similar random machine-gunning of apostrophes where they have no business being. Sure, it’s a bit of a confusing topic sometimes because there _are_ a number of rules that need to be remembered: - Plurals ending in a vowel: Add an “s” without an apostrophe. (“Bees,” “Houses,” “Areas.”) - Possessives: Add an “s” _with_ an apostrophe. (“The Jeep’s,” “The cat’s,” “My brother’s.”) - Plurals ending in a consonant, add an “s.” (“Donuts,” “Cars,” “Beers.”) - Except when the word ends in “s” or “sh,” in which case you have to add “es.” (“Dresses,” “Asses,” “Dishes,” “Ashes.”) - And except when the word ends in “y,” where pluralization requires that you remove the “y” and add “ies.” (“Baby/Babies,” “Twenty/Twenties,” “Pantry/Pantries.”) - But possessive “y” words still get the apostrophe-“s” treatment. - Plural possessive nouns: Add an “s” with the apostrophe at the _end_. (“The dogs’ toys,” “My brothers’ car.”) - Possessive pronouns: Add an “s” without an apostrophe. (“His,” “Hers,” "Theirs, “Its.”) - Also remember that none of these pluralization rules apply when a word is both singular and plural. (“Sheep,” “Fish,” “Rush Limbaugh.”) The possessives still apply, however. (“The sheep’s,” “The fish’s,” “Rush Limbaugh’s.”) - Contractions involving (pro)nouns (“[(pro)noun] is…”) must be determined by their context. For example: - “My brother’s car’s in the shop.” “Car” is the subject, and it belongs to "My brother.’ Thus, the possessive portion of this sentence is “brother’s car.” The car itself is in the shop, so the contracted portion of this sentence is “car’s in” – the _car is_ in the shop. - “My brother has a car. It’s in the shop.” Only one item here: “It’s.” “It” is the subject of the second sentence. In context, it is obvious that “it” is the car, and that “_it is_” in the shop. - “My brother’s car’s in the shop. Its rear bumper fell off.” The first sentence has been covered. In the second sentence, “it” is obviously referring to the car in the first sentence. The subject of the second sentence is “rear bumper,” which belongs to “it,” therefore “its” is possessive. Did I forget anything? Make any mistakes? Probably. But it illustrates the point that it’s understandable how some people can get them confused. It _shouldn’t_ happen, but it does. And yes, it bugs my inner grammar nazi. Next week, we’ll cover your schwas and dipthongs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823.md?page=3)