OT, 3rd grade grammar & spelling for adults

[Dave Nereson]

its vs. it's

"Its" refers to things that belong to 'it'.
"It's" is a contraction (a shortening) for "it is."

I                    my, mine
you               your, yours
he                 his, his
she               her, hers
it                   its, its     (NOT it's) !!!!!
we                our, ours
you (plural)   your, yours
they              their, theirs

This is my piano.  It is mine.
This is your piano.  It is yours.
This is his piano.  It is his.
This is her piano.  It is hers.
This piano belongs to the school.  It is ITS piano.  (Not "it's").  It is
its.  (It belongs to it -- the school).
This is our piano.  It is ours.
This is their piano.  It is theirs.   Not to be confused with "there", which
refers to a place, as in "over             there", or with "they're", which
means "they are", as in "They're coming over tonight."

The dog.  Its bark. Its tail.
The cat.  Its whiskers. Its meow.
The piano.  Its pitch, its lid, its keys, its action.  ITS !   NOT   it's
!!!

"It's" means "it is".  The apostrophe takes the place of the 'i' that is
left out of 'is'.

It's (it is) very hot today.  It's (it is) no mean feat.  It's (it is) a big
job to rebuild a piano.

'your'  vs.  'you're':
'Your' is for things that belong to you.  Your tools, your piano, your
house.
'You're' is for when you're really saying "you are."  "You're going to raise
pitch."  "You're crazy."

'Accordion' is with -ion, not -ian.
It's "mahogany", (remember "hog") not "mahagony";  "lauan" paneling, not
"luaun" or whatever else.

Bridle straps, not bridal straps.  It's bridles, like on a horse -- straps
that connect things.  Not "bridal"-- that has to do with brides, weddings.

And for R. Breckne:   Allow me to introduce the word "than".  This piano is
longer THAN that one.  This job is no harder THAN that one.  It is more
blessed to give THAN to receive.  "Then" refers to a period in time.  "I was
a lot younger back then."  "Then you do the fine tuning after the pitch
raise."   (But:  "I am older than you are."  "This piano has a
thinner-sounding tone than that one.")

for everyone:  it's 'wippen', not 'whippen'.   That was settled years ago.
There was a Journal article.

I know it's "square" to care about spelling, grammar -- we don't want to
appear too educated or anything, and certainly not intellectual, god forbid,
or professional or high class.   Thing is, this isn't college or even high
school material -- it's from elementary school.