And I thank him for it. Brian sent us an email after noticing how we've improperly used "its" and "it's" in our writing. When to use one over the other? He sent over a handy-dandy rule and we love him for it.
"The best way to remember which one to use is to put 'his' instead of 'it's'. If you would use 'his' then you would use 'its' because there's no such word as 'hi's'."
See we always sort of knew something was wrong with it but figured some reader will catch it and tell us. In our minds, we use "it's" to show possession when really it's a contraction.
The results have been two-fold. One, all blog entries have been re-checked and corrected. Two, this makes us feel good because in order for someone to catch the numerous incorrect usage of the contraction, they would have had to actually read the blog.
Again, thank you Brian for the tip and for reading! You're rule makes a whole-lot more sense than that "i before e" crap. :)
After reading this post, the only thing I could concentrate on while writing up a report at work was: Am I writing it's/its the right way? I have always used it's to show possession! Where oh where did I go wrong. A complete edit of the past 26 years of my life in writing shall commence immediately.
Hey guys!
First of all, thanks for the lovely comment on my site.
I've had my share of grammar patrol visits too, but I've never owned up to my mistakes. Haha. I just change them quietly and roll a d20 to see if I should accept the comment.
You are a better man than I. :)
If you keep writing, I'll keep reading.
~Spec