As a general rule, I don't nitpick people's grammar. I can almost guarantee there will be some misspellings and grammar errors in this very post.
I don't edit my friends' IM messages and I don't reply to their emails with a bunch of corrections.
I don't leave comments picking on blog posts or Facebook statuses for incorrect grammar.
I was trained as a writer, but the biggest lesson I learned at that time was to be clear in what you say. Grammar should be your servant, not your overlord.
Buuuuut, with that said, there is one error I see over and over again around these parts. It's an error so common and so simple that it frequently undercuts the legitimacy of the writer. I've seen very complex science diaries, deep analyses of inside politics in Congress and then I see an improper "it's." Even front page posts. Suddenly my belief in the writer's knowledge is shaken. Back in college, my roommate noted the frequency of this error and remarked that it makes people look ignorant. I've never forgotten that and I have to agree.
Here's the error: The possessive form of "its" has NO apostrophe.
I'm sorry, but someone had to say it.
Now, I've made the mistake myself. It's so simple that anyone can mess this one up. But I see this one so often that I think people are probably just confused.
And it's easy to understand why. Most possessive forms require an apostrophe. You, of course, would say "That is John's book." You would also say "I like that house's gutters." But if you wanted to say something about those two items, you'd have to say "Its pages are all torn" or "Its gutters aren't installed correctly."
That's it, folks. Thanks for listening. And hopefully this post isn't too annoying. I just want everyone to shine out there.
UPDATE: Wow, I guess I touched a nerve!
Here are a couple of others from the comments:
- You're / Your -- If you're not saying "you are" skip the apostrophe
- There / Their / They're -- Imagine the letter I in their as a person and only use it to refer to people. They're means "they are" and nothing else. Everything else, use there.
- Reign / Rein -- Reign is for kings and Reins are for horses
- Advice / Advise -- You advise people and you take good advice
- Loose / Lose -- You set something loose and try not to lose elections
- Otherwise use apostrophes for possessiveness: 1980s is right, 1980's is wrong (unless of course you're trying to be possessive.
- Whose / Who's -- Who's means "who is." Whose is possessive.
And two other notes:
- Back to my original point, an easy memory tool: it's means "it is". It never means anything else.
- Just to reiterate my other point: The online world moves fast and some mistakes and sloppiness are to be expected. But to understand why this matters, go visit ANY right-wing blog and try to sift through the massive number of typos and grammatical errors and it'll be enough to send you running for your Strunk and White.