Personal Pronoun Primer

 

Image courtesy Liveabout

Perhaps my teaching background is an issue, but the misuse of common English grammar both in social and corporate media drives me nuts.

Even when working as an itinerant consultant in bush schools between 2007 and 2017, I frequently had to restrain myself from correcting the grammar written on blackboards by teachers that I saw from time to time .

There are two common examples.

Take "your", and "you're" for example.

"Your" is the first person possessive pronoun. Its usage is very straightforward. Yet, somehow people confuse it with "you're" which is a contraction. "You're" is a shortening of "you are". 

For example - "You're late for your appointment".

Then there's "their" and "they're". 

"Their" is the third person possessive pronoun. "They're" is a contraction, a shortening of "they are".

For example - "They're going to collect their wages".

It's pretty simple.

I reserve the right to correct any grammar errors that are posted in comments on this site. I will always correct them on any sites I comment on, and am, as a consequence, often accused of pedantry.

It's weird that the same people who are bemoaning what they consider an erosion of Anglo values, are disrespecting the heritage they claim to honour by abusing the basic grammar of the English language.

Strange but true.