Every now and then, it doesn’t hurt to brush up on some basic grammar. Maybe your job entails writing all day and you think you’ve got a handle on it, but everybody is prone to slip-ups.

Though it may seem devastatingly obvious to some, others still have trouble with contractions and words that indicate possession. Phonetically, they sound the same, but their context is completely different.

Your and You’re

Visually, they are different; phonetically, they are the same. So, what’s the deal? “Your” is the second person possessive adjective and is used to describe something as belonging to you (i.e. your car, your house).

“You’re” is the contraction for “you are.” It’s important to remember that if you see an apostrophe within a word, it means that something is missing; it’s holding the place for something (i.e. you’re the best!).

Its and It’s

Just like “your,” “its” is used to indicate possession (i.e. its eyes, its hair).

As you can see, “it’s” has an apostrophe, which means something is missing. “It’s” is the contraction for “it is” (i.e. it’s time to go).

Their and They’re and There

They’re homophones therefore; they make it difficult for some to determine which spelling to use. “There” is used to indicate a place (i.e. we went there) and is also used with “to be” verbs (be, is, am, are, was, were); i.e. there is a monster over there. “They’re” is the contraction for “they are” (i.e. they’re here!). “Their” indicates possession (i.e. we’re going to their house).

And there you have it!

Still a bit shaky with your grammar? Check out our SEO Content Writing services!