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Pastimes
SI Grammar and Spelling Lab
An SI Board Since November 1997
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4703 69 0
Emcee:  jbe Type:  Unmoderated
How many times have you seen incorrect grammatical constructions/spelling errors on SI that set your teeth on edge? That tempted you to send a rude note to the offender(s)?

Conversely: how many times have you posted a message, wondering whether the way you are expressing yourself may actually sabotage what you are trying to express?

This thread is devoted to detailing & discussing common irritating errors, with the hope of eradicating them once and for all.

Let's start with "it's" for "its." Folks -- "it's" is a contraction for "it is." "Its" is a possessive pronoun. EXAMPLE: "It's nice that the stock has hit its all-time high."

The source of this confusion is pretty clear. Possessives usually use an apostrophe, as in "John's hat," "the girl's dress," or (plural), "the girls' dresses." But where the possessive of "it" is concerned, remember -- no apostrophe! Please!

More to come!
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ReplyMessage PreviewFromRecsPosted
4703The semicolon had its moment; that moment is over On the power of punctuation PhTom Clarke3May 19
4702Nice printing but his grammar is all wrong... [X] NEW: Police in Arizona have Joachim K3April 29
4701[X] French is not for beginners pic.twitter.com/CdH5N65opx— NO CONTEXT HUMANS (Thomas M.-March 26
4700"... it will move away from Western perspectives after concerns were raisValuepro1March 20
4699Shakespeare, a ‘White Racist’ and ‘British Imperialist’ Mar 19, 2025 10:00 am Joachim K1March 20
4698English for Beginners [youtube video]Joachim K2February 18
4697LOL!!Stan-January 29
4696[graphic]Joachim K3January 29
4695I've heard that "woman" came from "the [hu]man with the womb&Stan17/23/2024
4694One would suppose she is speaking as a representative of womankind, but that wouValuepro-7/23/2024
4693"men" [youtube video] Tolkien and "Men" (youtube.com)Stan17/22/2024
4692I saw it as communications-related, something which is associated with grammar.Valuepro-7/20/2024
4691Not sure how that story ended up in this thread unless you took a left instead oZen Dollar Round-7/19/2024
4690The heart of comedy is surprise. Thanks for the laugh.Valuepro-7/19/2024
4689The professor told his class one day, 'Today we will experiment with a new fJoachim K17/19/2024
4688Comments from French speakers confirm (what are to us) their odd word patterns. Stan16/24/2024
4687[graphic]Stan16/24/2024
4686It's the C- at the bottom that gets me. :) [graphic]Stan22/27/2024
4685Oh, if only . . . :)Stan-12/12/2023
4684Or, "Shamed by AI altering your writing?" LOLValuepro-12/12/2023
4683Shamed by you English? [graphic]Stan112/12/2023
4682After reading that, I wonder why more non-native English speakers don't justS. maltophilia-11/15/2023
4681A chaotic poem about English pronunciation [youtube video]Stan211/15/2023
4680I get that response when unexpectedly hearing bad grammar from the mouths of proValuepro-10/28/2023
4679Bad grammar is so maddening it activates the 'fight or flight' response Tom Clarke310/28/2023
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