Copywriting Tip: The Difference Between Its and It's
Apostrophes are so overused, I sometimes wish keyboards came without them. You'll see apostrophes being used to indicate plurals all the time:
- Banana's 49 cents
- I rented a couple of video's
Such mistakes are so common, it's actually surprising when you see the correct versions:
- Bananas 49 cents
- I rented a couple of videos
It was almost certainly this apostrophe catastrophe that cost McCain the White House:
What really puzzles me, however, is the confusion over it's and its.
The rule couldn't be simpler: The apostrophe is only appropriate when it's is used as a contraction of it is or it has. And that's the entire rule, folks. There are no exceptions.
It's such a simple and logical rule, it's hard to understand why so many people — even really smart people — get it wrong. I've seen this mistake in glossy brochures produced by the likes of BMW; it's even been carved into granite. I just don't get it.
Test Question: What's the correct way to answer the question, "Where's my pizza?"
Test Answer: "It's on its way." (If you wrote, "It's on it's way", box yourself in the ears right away. HARD!)
My apologies for this self-indulgent post. Unless you're selling copywriting or editing services, learning this rule is not likely to increase your website's sales or leads. But if just one reader sees the light and never again writes, "The dog is wagging it's tail", I'll consider this post a success.
If you like this post then please consider subscribing to our RSS feed.
But there is no possessive IT because the word ites never existed - that's why there's no apostrophe when something belongs to "it". I'm not sure why, but knowing the reason for the apostrophe stopped me from worrying about it, it's and its. Once I heard about the origins, I always remembered.
"The week's end arrived, its ritual of debauchery a welcome change. It's a given that it'll end too soon..."
Now, if someone could tell me about the origins of some of our stupid homonyms - to, two, too; their, there, they're...I'd be much happier...
I know most people love "Eats, Shoots & Leaves" by Lynne Truss, but I prefer Michael Drout's recorded book "A Way with Words - Part III". This was where I heard the story about the inflection "es". (Spoiler: he argues a bit with Truss in his book on grammar - good stuff!)
I have listened to his series on Approaches to Literature, Rhetoric, and Grammar and they are excellent. He's one of the most engaging, funny speakers I've ever heard. And my God, the man knows his stuff! Enjoy...
http://www.recordedbooks.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=...
http://fileserver.wheatonma.edu/mdrout/index.html
Thanks for the links to Michael Drout's pages. Who'd have guessed punctuation could be so much fun?
M
M
Here's a direct link to the PDF version:
http://www.recordedbooks.com/courses_pdf/UT123.pdf...
M
Learning about common logical fallacies (like question begging, was wonderful. (I see fallacies all the time in marketing; ie: "7 Ways to solve your problem by buying our product" is NOT a service piece!)
Learning about how to build truly effective rhetoric using tools like the enthymeme changed how I write (or will try to) forever.
I've listened to "A Way with Words - Part I" about 4 times. I'm finally getting the hang of some of it. Unfortunately, I now have a terrible geek-crush on Michael Drout. ; )
Enjoy...
http://www.learnoutloud.com/Catalog/Education-and-...