Note to new readers

"alot" -- very subtle

 

Perhaps the most common grammatical mistakes on this forum are it's for its, their for there, alright for all right, alot for a lot, myself for me, and using I as an object of the preposition as well as a poor understanding of transitive and intransitive verb usage.

 

With newer versions of vBulletin, it's possible to show or hide virtually any on-screen component. I don't know if that's so with this older version. However, I'm not sure that line should be suppressed. Instead, when a user is banned, that line should probably revert to show whoever was the newest user before the banned one. If that user, too, was banned, then it should go back to the one before... and so on and so on. I have no idea if vBulletin is capable of doing that... but now you've got me curious so now I'll go look it up.

There's another way to look at it, though: If we don't want the troll's username to appear in the welcome-to-newest-member area, all that has to happen for it to disappear is for an even newer member to join. So, everyone, go out there and talk someone you know and like into signing up! See? Think of it as pressure on existing members to go out and find new members!

Or, if we have any lurkers who are reading this, but who haven't signed-up, do us a favor and sign up so the troll's username will disappear! I mean... you can still lurk. Just 'cause you join doesn't mean you have to actually post anything. But, if you do, then at least the troll's username will no longer be the newest member.

I think it's a "when they give you lemons, make lemonade" sort of thing.

 

I hate it when fellow libertarians begin allotting people.

 

Could you clarify the difference between it's and its? If the word "it" followed regular rules, "it's" would be short for both "it is" (second person singular) and "it his" (possessive) and "its" would be "more than one it" (plural). But, "it" is not regular insofar as those rules, so which is which?

 

I actually tried to figure out how to do it but couldn't. At first I thought that it must be the combination of the chanting and the California wine but, well, maybe it just isn't possible.

Jack

 

Webster Online take:


http://www.webster.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=alright&x=0&y=0

 

This old version of vBulletin has many limitations...

...and crashes, altogether, if moderators spill California wine on it.

 

Maybe it's not possible, and you can certainly keep on chanting, BUT I do wish you'd share some of that wine I'll go get the glasses . . .

 

Not really sure I follow you here, Ted.

I guess an example would be something along the lines of "Harvard and its faculty..."

A number of posters on here would write this as "Harvard and it's faculty..."

The latter would be "Harvard and it is faculty..."

It's would never stand for it his.

Example: John said "It's his book." Not "John said it's book."

 

"It's" is a contraction for "it is" or "it has."

"Its" is a possessive pronoun meaning of it or belonging to it.

And, just for the record, there is absolutely, positively, no such word as "its'" (with the apostrophe after the "s")... ever! No matter what.

"Its" is the neuter version of "his" and/or "her." As a test, try plugging "her" into your sentence where you think "its" belongs. If the sentence still works grammatically -- if not, then at least logically -- then your word is almost certainly "its."

But if you mean to say "it is" or "it has," then the only choice is "it's." Actually, in modern usage, that's the easiest-to-remember acid test: Whenever you mean "it is" or "it has" then use "it's"; and for all else, use "its."

This, it should be noted, however, is the modern usage. From The Word Detective web site:

• Strictly speaking, in modern usage the possessive form of the pronoun "it" is, as you note, "its." The formation "it's" is a contraction, standing for "it is" (or "it has"). Thus we might say "It's (it is) a nice day for sailing, but my boat has lost its (the boat's) rudder." The difference between the two forms is clear, but evidently curiously difficult for many people to remember.
  
  At the risk of giving aid and comfort to the "ungrammarians" among us, however, I must note that the difference between "it's" and "its" was not always so definite. Until the 19th century, in fact, "it's" was usually considered the possessive of "it" -- in the Fall, a tree shed "it's" leaves. The usual contraction of "it is" was "'tis." Only when "'tis" came to be regarded as an archaic form in the 19th century did the use of "it's" as a contraction of "it is" push out the use of "it's" as a possessive. I know this is a bit hard to follow, but the point is that the "rule" used to be the exact opposite of what it is today. And on that note, I move that we adjourn our seminar until next time, when we'll explore a few more holes in the logic surrounding our little friend "it."

See also Jack Lynch's Grammar & Style Notes:

• It's versus Its
  
  There's no shortcut; all you can do is memorize the rule. It's with an apostrophe means it is (or, a little less often and a little less formally, it has); its without an apostrophe means belonging to it. An analogue might provide a mnemonic: think of "he's" ("he is" gets an apostrophe) and "his" ("belonging to him" doesn't).
  
  What about its', with the apostrophe after the s? — Never, never, never. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Not in this language, you don't. Its, "belonging to it"; it's, it is. That's all.

Hope that helps.

 

What of its' case?

 

If you mean what of the possessive of "its," then it would be "its's"... like in "DesElms's." Of course, unless someone is named "Its," or we're talking about an entity named "Its," then it's hard to imagine when one would ever use it that way... especially with the "i" of "its" not capitalized.

Is that what you meant?

 

I don't understand how simple high school grammar can be so difficult for so many who hold post-secondary degrees.

 

Yeah, and BESIDES that, what's this about CALIFORNIA wine? Washington State wines are better!

 

Ah, but "DesElms'" = "DesElms's" so "its'" should equal "its's".

 

Isn't that what I just wrote? (Oh, man... I'm confused now!)

 

We've got a couple of really good wineries right her in NC too. Maybe we could work a trade *hic*

 

Apostrophe: Address to an absent or imaginary person

Now that's confusing. Or, that is confusing.

 

dcsimon:

That depends on what your definition of it's is. Wait! Where have I heard that before?