It's fucking confusing. Well, not really, but I keep making mistakes anyhow. /r/ simple way to remember which is which.
The cat's food
The dog's food
Its food. <-- WHERE DID THE APOSTROPHE GO???
Its fat <-- The fat belongs to "it"
It's fat <-- It is obese
Sheila is fat <-- Sheila is obese
Sheila's fat <-- The fat belongs to Sheila
FUCKING PARADOX!!!
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English = inconsistent + gay!Mjk4PcAe162007-01-21 7:33
His dog
Her dog
Its dog (notice, no apostrophes on any of these possesive adjectives)
He's a dog
She's a dog
It's a dog (notice, apostrophese in all of these pronoun-verb contractions)
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Anonymous2007-01-21 10:22
>>3
Thanks, but it didn't really make it any less confusing. Do I need to just "get it"? How much of an ass will I make of myself if I get this wrong in an official context?
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Anonymous2007-01-21 11:21
a dog
two dogs
the dog's
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Anonymous2007-01-21 20:33
... I don't get it
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Anonymous2007-01-21 21:30
>>4
The only time you use "it's" is when you want to say "it is." Any other time, you will use the word "its." Trust me on this, for I am Anonymous.
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Anonymous2007-01-21 22:22
"Its" is used to show ownership (ie the cat ate its food); "it's" is a contraction of "it is". This is elementary grammar.
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Anonymous2007-01-21 22:29
>>1
If English is your native language, you are over twelve years old, and you still do not know, kill yourself. You're destined to work at Mcdonalds for the remainder of your pitiful life.
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Anonymous2007-01-22 8:18
>>9
I know you put in a lot of effort to get that sentence right, but it's (<--- correct?!?!?!) actually spelled McDonald's. Capital D. Apostrophe. Important shit!
its on the internet's so just roll DICE'S and go with that
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Anonymous2007-01-22 12:11
DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DICES
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Anonymous2007-01-22 16:22
Its fat <-- The fat belongs to "it" Sheila's fat <-- The fat belongs to Sheila
Not complete sentences.
It's fat <-- It is obese Sheila is fat <-- Sheila is obese
These are complete sentences, although on the level of a three-year-old. If you are able to come up with examples of full sentences where it is impossible to tell from the context which interpretation to use, you win.
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Anonymous2007-01-22 16:31
>>18
That totally pisses me off, why the fuck is it called die, huh?
While English does have a large number of paradoxes, this is not one of them. The posessive "its" is not comparable to "cat's" or "dog's" but rather to a word like "his" or "her," i.e. it is a seperate word meaning possion by an object or animal of neutral gender. You don't say "This is hi's book" now do you?
As for "it's," this is simply a contraction of "it is" and thus leaving out the ' would be like writing "dont"