We just began using Grammarly here at Artsy Geek, because we can’t always be perfect! We wholeheartedly recommend our clients use even the free version because we see grammar problems and misspillings (joke!) regularly. We’re not judging (too much), however, your clients probably are.
Read on to see if you’re even sounding a little caveman-ish.
Their vs. There vs. They’re
“Their” is possessive, as in “Their clothes are still in the dryer.”
“There” indicates a place.
Q: “Where are my clothes?”
A: “With your other gross things over there.”
“They’re” is a contraction of “they are.”
Q: “They’re giving us the stink eye because we keep leaving our clothes in their dryer.”
Your vs. You’re
“You’re” is the contraction of “you are.” And “your” is possessive, as in “Your sweet ass threads are in the dryer.”
‘s vs s vs es
Use an ‘s when a noun is possessive (used to show belonging).
Q: Where are Dude’s clothes?
Incorrect usage: “Hey, are my sweet ass thread’s ready?”
In this case, the word “ad” is plural (that is, not showing a possessive).
Correct: “Hey, are my sweet ass thread’s ready?”
Not always sure where to place an apostrophe?
Here’s an adorable monster video!
Need some more assistance on when to add an S or an ES or…?
Check out this fantastic pdf from the University of Manitoba.
The Caveman Test
We’ve developed a little thing we call The Caveman Test to help you avoid these common grammar mistakes.
The following example is a quick and easy way to know when to us “me” or “I”. Simply remove the other person involved, and if it makes you sound like a caveman, use the other one.
Me vs. I
Should I use “John and I love movies” or “Me and John love movies”? Remove the other person. “I love movies” or “Me love movies.” Civilized or caveman? (The civilized choice is correct.)
Its vs. It’s
“It’s” is a contraction of “it is.” If you mean “it is” or “it has,” you want to use “it’s.”
Take any sentence with the word “it’s.” If you were to say “it is” in the sentence, would it make you sound a little caveman-ish? If so, remove the apostrophe and use “its” instead.
For example, “The meat stick was returned to it is rightful owner.” If it sounds odd (it does), that’s how you know it’s supposed to be “its”.
