I have a lot of "pet peeves" and usually they don't bother me that much. I think, however, it's fun to hear other opinions of my pet peeves. Today's grammar pet peeve is one I cannot abide. I fix the displays in my local gym with a red pen (and usually get in trouble for it, but really... Proofread, people!).
Today's Pet Peeve: Using "you're, your" incorrectly
It's grammar! It's one of the building blocks of language! Use the one that fits the language you're speaking/writing! Here's the breakdown: "you're" is a contraction of the words "you" and "are"; "you" is a noun, and "are" is a verb (2nd person present tense form of the English "to be"). Therefore: You're working out today. NOT: Your working out today.
"Your" is a second person possessive. You use it to say to someone that their (noun/gerund/verb) is (adjective), or to refer to something that belongs to someone. Hence: Your workout looks really fun! NOT You're workout looks really fun.
Got it? Great! Now practice! Stop spreading terrible grammar!
Next week's Pet Peeve: The constant misuse of the three (their, there, they're)s. I am screaming in rage inside my head every time I see these messed up. EVERY TIME. My neurons start goose-stepping. It's bad.
P.S. I promise I'm not really a Grammar Nazi. I'm from the middle of Hickville. I have used the following sentence in actual conversation after graduating from college: "I hadn't wanted to driv the car on down there." In case you were wondering: "driv" in this case should have been "drive". Driv isn't even a word. But still... when you're presenting a product of your writing/language skills... DO IT RIGHT! Woot.
P.P.S. I love using words like: hence, therefore, henceforth, therein. So fun!
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