Steve Bailey
Lifetime Supporting Member + Moderator
Since we've had plenty of threads completely off the topic of PLCs lately, another one can't hurt (much).
Herewith, a few of my pet peeves about commonly misused words.
First, the words "its" and "it's". This is an easy pair to get mixed up. Engish normally forms the possessive by appending an apostrophe and the letter s such as Eric's snowplow or Peter's motion controller.
Furthermore, when we form a contraction (combining two words into one by dropping letters) we insert an apostrophe in the place of the missing letters.
These two rules are in conflict when we come to the words "its" and "it's". Which of those is the possessive and which is the contraction? By convention, "it's" is the contraction and "its" is the possessive.
This leads right into the next confusion which is between the plural and the possessive. As I mentioned before, English forms the possessive of a noun by adding apostrophe s. When English forms the plural of a noun by adding the letter s, it does so without the apostrophe.
Thus "Paul's" means belonging to Paul while "Pauls" means more than one Paul.
The words "to" and "too". "To" is a preposition indicating direction or distance (I am going to the store). "Too" is an adverb denoting an excess (I have too many bills).
The words "were" and "where". "Were" is the plural past tense of the verb "to be" (We were all young once). "Where" is an adverb indicating location (Where is my brain).
None of these misapplications will get flagged by your computer's spell checker. It's up to the writer to engage its own brain to check for conventional usage. Misapplication of words like these generates the impression that the writer is either uneducated or too lazy to care. Continued misapplication reflects poorly on the school where you were taught.
None of these misapplication's will get flagged by your computers spell checker. Its up to the writer to engage it's own brain to check for conventional usage. Misapplication of words like these generates the impression that the writer is either uneducated or to lazy too care. Continued misapplication reflects poorly on the school were you where taught.
Feel free to either flame away or add your own pet peeves.
Herewith, a few of my pet peeves about commonly misused words.
First, the words "its" and "it's". This is an easy pair to get mixed up. Engish normally forms the possessive by appending an apostrophe and the letter s such as Eric's snowplow or Peter's motion controller.
Furthermore, when we form a contraction (combining two words into one by dropping letters) we insert an apostrophe in the place of the missing letters.
These two rules are in conflict when we come to the words "its" and "it's". Which of those is the possessive and which is the contraction? By convention, "it's" is the contraction and "its" is the possessive.
This leads right into the next confusion which is between the plural and the possessive. As I mentioned before, English forms the possessive of a noun by adding apostrophe s. When English forms the plural of a noun by adding the letter s, it does so without the apostrophe.
Thus "Paul's" means belonging to Paul while "Pauls" means more than one Paul.
The words "to" and "too". "To" is a preposition indicating direction or distance (I am going to the store). "Too" is an adverb denoting an excess (I have too many bills).
The words "were" and "where". "Were" is the plural past tense of the verb "to be" (We were all young once). "Where" is an adverb indicating location (Where is my brain).
None of these misapplications will get flagged by your computer's spell checker. It's up to the writer to engage its own brain to check for conventional usage. Misapplication of words like these generates the impression that the writer is either uneducated or too lazy to care. Continued misapplication reflects poorly on the school where you were taught.
None of these misapplication's will get flagged by your computers spell checker. Its up to the writer to engage it's own brain to check for conventional usage. Misapplication of words like these generates the impression that the writer is either uneducated or to lazy too care. Continued misapplication reflects poorly on the school were you where taught.
Feel free to either flame away or add your own pet peeves.
