Dear readers,
I hope I'm not boring (or insulting) anyone by posting occasional writing tips. I suppose that, as a writer, I do at times obsess about proper grammar, and my goal is to help, not hurt. You may note, for example, that as a Canadian, I always use 'our' as opposed to 'or' in words such as behaviour, favourite, etc.. This has often given me pause as I work on my novels and wonder whether the
majority of my readers realize there is a difference for us Canadians. Then, I consider the fact that if the majority do not use 'our,' I should perhaps change my habits. But sorry, in the end, I can never bring myself to do it.
The poster below does point out a few of my personal grammar peeves, my biggest issue being with 'its' v. 'it's.' So many people cannot grasp the difference, and I have to wonder if perhaps the fault lies within our schools. Trust me, I'm not criticizing teachers here; my daughter has her teaching degree, and I have nothing but respect for teachers. I'm just saying...
An example of when to use 'it's' would be when you can replace the apostrophe with the letter 'i':
- it's very cold outside = it is very cold outside (yes, an apostrophe!)
- the cat licked its paw = if you were to replace it with 'it is,' the sentence would not make sense! Therefore, we are speaking about something that belongs to the cat: (no apostrophe!)
I don't know who authored and posted this on FB, by I'm super glad they did. If we can reach even one person today, then I'm a happy woman!
I hope I'm not boring (or insulting) anyone by posting occasional writing tips. I suppose that, as a writer, I do at times obsess about proper grammar, and my goal is to help, not hurt. You may note, for example, that as a Canadian, I always use 'our' as opposed to 'or' in words such as behaviour, favourite, etc.. This has often given me pause as I work on my novels and wonder whether the
majority of my readers realize there is a difference for us Canadians. Then, I consider the fact that if the majority do not use 'our,' I should perhaps change my habits. But sorry, in the end, I can never bring myself to do it.
The poster below does point out a few of my personal grammar peeves, my biggest issue being with 'its' v. 'it's.' So many people cannot grasp the difference, and I have to wonder if perhaps the fault lies within our schools. Trust me, I'm not criticizing teachers here; my daughter has her teaching degree, and I have nothing but respect for teachers. I'm just saying...
An example of when to use 'it's' would be when you can replace the apostrophe with the letter 'i':
- it's very cold outside = it is very cold outside (yes, an apostrophe!)
- the cat licked its paw = if you were to replace it with 'it is,' the sentence would not make sense! Therefore, we are speaking about something that belongs to the cat: (no apostrophe!)
I don't know who authored and posted this on FB, by I'm super glad they did. If we can reach even one person today, then I'm a happy woman!
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