It’s means It Is!

As I said in my previous post, I spent a great deal of time last week writing and editing under a tight deadline, so this post will be a little shorter than what it would normally be while I decompress a little.

A couple of weeks ago, I was browsing though some of my unsolicited email I am sent from people who are either phishing or just trying to spam, when I ran across something which read a little something like this: “XYZ Company (I honestly don’t remember the name) is the best! The first site like it to pay it’s members!”

Look good to you? Let’s take a closer look at what the two sentences actually say:

“XYZ Company is the best! The first site like it to pay IT IS members!”

Yes, when you add an apostrophe before an s, usually you’re indicating possession. But consider that the apostrophe can also form a contraction. Take, for example, cannot: Using the apostrophe, thereby creating a contraction, it forms can’t. Should not becomes shouldn’t. Do not - don’t. And have not forms haven’t.

It conveys, with the ’s,  either it has or it is; therefore it’s means it is or it has. If you leave off the ’s from it, you make it possessive - allowing whatever it is to have something (its members, its own thoughts, its own sweet time, not to be confused with it’s time [to leave for school]).

So when you’re writing about one thing having another thing, please, please, please omit the apostrophe. But if you’re wanting to express it is or it has something, please don’t forget it!

How ’bout it?

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Tags: apostrophe placement, grammar, pronouns, punctuation, spelling, word choice

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