Your vs You're

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truelyana

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I have noticed that I have been using 'You're' alot now, since being corrected on here by one of the AW members. What's the difference between 'your' and 'you're'? In what sentences can you use these two, with it sounding correct?

Is this your breakfast?
Is this you're breakfast?

What does the 're' at the end of 'you' indicate?
 

Jersey Chick

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Your is possessive - Are those your shoes?

You're is a contraction for You are - You're going with us, right?

Is his your breakfast is right - one way to check is to say it out loud, only breaking you're into you are. So, 'Is this you are breakfast?' doesn't quite work.

Hope this helps! :)
 
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nerds

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you're is the contraction of the words you are. your is when you are in possession of something.


sample sentence:

You're your own best friend.
 

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"you're" is a contraction of "you are" which is used in everyday conversation. The apostrophe indicates dropped letter or letters, in this case the "a" in "are"

Any time you're in doubt, say the sentence out loud to yourself without contracting -- "Is this you are breakfast" sounds wrong, so it must be "Is this your breakfast?"

"your" is a possessive pronoun -- it belongs to "you" -- it's your breakfast, you own it, and you're paying for it, settle your bill at the desk on your way out.

-Derek
 

truelyana

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Your is possessive - Are those your shoes?

You're is a contraction for You are - You're going with us, right?

Is his your breakfast is right - one way to check is to say it out loud, only breaking you're into you are. So, 'Is this you are breakfast?' doesn't quite work.

Hope this helps! :

This does help, thank you very much. :)

So, how is your writing?

You're very helpful.
 

KTC

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I have noticed that I have been using 'You're' alot now, since being corrected on here by one of the AW members. What's the difference between 'your' and 'you're'? In what sentences can you use these two, with it sounding correct?

Is this your breakfast?
Is this you're breakfast?

What does the 're' at the end of 'you' indicate?


lol. Sorry for the tease.

You're is YOU ARE. Simple. Easy Peasy.
 

truelyana

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"you're" is a contraction of "you are" which is used in everyday conversation. The apostrophe indicates dropped letter or letters, in this case the "a" in "are"

Any time you're in doubt, say the sentence out loud to yourself without contracting -- "Is this you are breakfast" sounds wrong, so it must be "Is this your breakfast?"

"your" is a possessive pronoun -- it belongs to "you" -- it's your breakfast, you own it, and you're paying for it, settle your bill at the desk on your way out.

-Derek

This is a very handy thing to know, thanks! Makes it easier to use. :)
 

truelyana

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lol. Sorry for the tease.

You're is YOU ARE. Simple. Easy Peasy.

It was ccarver to begin with, he corrected me on a sentence I had put 'your' as I had no idea what I was saying. He then introduced me to 'you're' and I got confused. If you notice throughout most of the posts, I have been using only 'you're' since then, and scrapped out 'your' completetly.

It does help to understand the difference between the two, and thanks again. :)
 

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Yes - there's no such word as 'alot'. I assumed you had simply made a typing error.

'a lot' - like so many things in English - can mean more than one thing. Either 'many' or 'a great deal' or 'frequently' or 'a plot of land' etc...

In the context you used it -it obviously means 'frequently' or 'many times'.

So 'a lot' is also separated?
 

truelyana

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Yes - there's no such word as 'alot'. I assumed you had simply made a typing error.

'a lot' - like so many things in English - can mean more than one thing. Either 'many' or 'a great deal' or 'frequently' or 'a plot of land' etc...

In the context you used it -it obviously means 'frequently' or 'many times'.

Thanks. My English grammar is not up to scratch, and sometimes it helps for others to spot these errors, so then I can understand the correct way of using it. :)
 

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Tiger to Monkey: You're breakfast.
Monkey to Tiger: Your breakfast?
 

Dawnstorm

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Can you use that first line? As it doesn't flow as 'you are'.

It should work as a colloquialism, like "You're history!" or "You're toast!"

***

A few web-examples I find acceptable:

From a Playstation2 review:

"They charge at you and if they catch you, you're breakfast." (here)

From a joke competition. Caption for a picture (three men and a cow on a boat; the cow is talking):

"The way I see it, you're breakfast, lunch and dinner." (Here)

Apparantly, a scientology e-mail:

"I look constantly for your postings Jeffie, and I read every one of them, because you're breakfast for me, boy, you're my late-night snack. I would love nothing so much as to reply to you directly, sans anon remailer. I'd love nothing so much as to stand in front of you and laugh, or spit in your face. I'd love to eat you alive." (here)
 
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FennelGiraffe

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Just in case anyone has the same confusion with they're/their/there:

They're = they are
My cousins called to say they're coming for dinner.
Their = belonging to them
Their house is too small for everyone to fit.
There = that place, or an impersonal reference to existence
Set the pies over there on the table.
There are too many people in this kitchen.
(Note that people sometimes run "there are" together when speaking, saying something like "There're too many people in this kitchen." However, outside of colloquial dialog, that shouldn't be used in writing.)

PS. Can you tell I'm deep in last-minute family negotiations over Thanksgiving dinner?
 

Judg

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Well, then, let's throw in its/it's too. ;) Same principle as your/you're. Its is possessive. This book has lost its cover. It's is a contraction of it is. It's a grand day to be alive.

It's nice to see somebody caring about getting it right.
 

truelyana

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It should work as a colloquialism, like "You're history!" or "You're toast!"

***

A few web-examples I find acceptable:

From a Playstation2 review:

"They charge at you and if they catch you, you're breakfast." (here)

From a joke competition. Caption for a picture (three men and a cow on a boat; the cow is talking):

"The way I see it, you're breakfast, lunch and dinner." (Here)

Apparantly, a scientology e-mail:

"I look constantly for your postings Jeffie, and I read every one of them, because you're breakfast for me, boy, you're my late-night snack. I would love nothing so much as to reply to you directly, sans anon remailer. I'd love nothing so much as to stand in front of you and laugh, or spit in your face. I'd love to eat you alive." (here)

That seems to work. Thanks for highlighting this. I think I feel better saying 'you are' in those kind of sentences, than 'you're' as that feels a little impersonal.
 

truelyana

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Just in case anyone has the same confusion with they're/their/there:


They're = they are
My cousins called to say they're coming for dinner.​

Their = belonging to them
Their house is too small for everyone to fit.​

There = that place, or an impersonal reference to existence
Set the pies over there on the table.​

There are too many people in this kitchen.​
(Note that people sometimes run "there are" together when speaking, saying something like "There're too many people in this kitchen." However, outside of colloquial dialog, that shouldn't be used in writing.)

PS. Can you tell I'm deep in last-minute family negotiations over Thanksgiving dinner?

This is really handy Fennel, thanks. :D I don't use enough of 'their' and I have never used 'they're' before, as I type out 'they are' most of the time. :D Really helpful.
 

truelyana

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Well, then, let's throw in its/it's too. ;) Same principle as your/you're. Its is possessive. This book has lost its cover. It's is a contraction of it is. It's a grand day to be alive.

It's nice to see somebody caring about getting it right.

You know I actually hadn't realised what its/it's meant neither. Sometimes I find myself avoiding the 'it's' as I don't know what it's meant to be used for. (HA!! I've just used it, as I've said that. lol Must be a habit.) So there isn't a difference between 'its' and it's'? I mean one has a apostrophe and one hasn't.

Thanks. :) I'm quite excited in getting it right, and expanding my language vocabulary as it helps me to write better in future writing.
 
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