Grammar Ref: Where/Wear, They're/There/Their, etc.

Grammar mistakes are annoying but very common, and make you look like a worse writer. Keep this in mind, however: there are published writers who, had it not been for their editors, would have wound up looking like they were completely illiterate. What I'm trying to say is that grammar errors happen, but they are normal, and don't necessarily mean you aren't as good a writer as you would like to be. It just means you need to look it up if you're unsure. Granted I'm not one to complain because there are some mistakes I make (okay a lot), but here is a quick guide to help you if you are unsure.

(Side note my weak point is spelling. Spellcheck is my pal.)

Contents: 1) There, Where, Here 2) It's, Its 3) Who's, Whose 4) You're, Your

1) There, Where, Here
Where is it?
It's not over there,
It's over here.

I'm sure everyone knows about the confusion of "They're, Their, There", "Where, Wear, Were, We're", and "Hear, Here". The above passage will help you remember. "Here" refers to placement, and so "there" and "where" contain "here" because they refer to placement.

"They're" is a contraction of "they" and "are". "They are leaving now" = "They're leaving now". "They're is a spider in my room" would translate to "They are is a spider in my room", which makes no sense.

"Their" is a possessive word, which refers to an object owned by a group of people or, in this modern day, a person whose gender/sex is ambiguous or otherwise unknown. "That is Joe and Abby's dog" = "That is their dog".
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I see "Where, Wear, Were, and We're" getting confused a lot. I touched on "where" previously, so I'll discuss the other three here.

"Wear" is a verb, and refers to clothes or something else you would put on your body as clothing, an accessory, etc. Because it is a verb, it has to be conjugated depending on the subject. "I wear jeans", "You wear jeans", "He/She wears jeans", etc.

"Were" is essentially the past-tense form of "am/are/is", otherwise known as the English verb for "to be". For "you" and plural nouns, "were" is used. It is not pronounced like "where, wear", but I see it getting confused often. "You are obnoxious" would end up as "You were obnoxious".

"We're" is a contraction of "we" and "are". "We are leaving now" = "We're leaving now". The word changes completely if you forget the apostrophe. This makes texts very confusing to read.
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"Here" and "hear" are often confused because they are said the same. "Hear" is a verb. It contains the word "ear", which is the organ with which we use to listen and subsequently hear. I bring this up because it makes the distinction that much easier to remember.

2) It's, Its
This is one of the more painful grammatical mistakes because these words are completely different. Have you ever been trying to learn another language and you stumble across two words that have very similar spellings, but one difference that completely changes the meaning? Well, "it's" and "its" are one of those word sets.

If your school was like mine, you were probably brought up taught that if a word has an apostrophe, it's a possessive. While this can be a good rule of thumb, I find that this probably is the reason so many people confuse "it's" and "its". In reality, "it's" is a contraction of "it" and "is". "It is going to rain" = "It's going to rain". If you confuse the two, your sentence "The dog picked up it's bone" is now "The dog picked up it is bone", which makes no sense.

"Its" is possessive, and is used if the sex/gender of the subject is unknown or does not apply. "The dog picked up its bone" and "The car needs its oil changed" are both correct. "Its time to go" implies that the time has an owner. No one can own time. I should major in philosophy.

3) Who's, Whose
"Who's" and "Whose" fall into the same trouble as "its" and "it's", because "who's" is a contraction and "whose" is a possessive term.

"Who's" is a contraction between "who" and "is". "Who is coming to get you?" = "Who's coming to get you?" Because of its apostrophe, it is often confused as possessive. "...a fiend who's wrath would doom the land..." doesn't make sense, because the phrase translates to "...a fiend who is wrath would doom the land..." Granted, you can make a fiend who is wrath, but you would need commas, capitals, context, etc. For the fiend possessing the wrath, however, it does not work.

"Whose" is possessive. "...a fiend whose wrath would doom the land..." works in this sense because it shows that the fiend possesses the wrath. In "Whose coming to get you?" does not work because the placement would suggest that the 'coming' is possessed, and you can't possess a verb. Unless you're the Fine Bros and trying to possess the verb 'react'. I swear if that goes through I'm going to copyright "Bros" so they have to pay me every time they use their name.

4) You're, Your
Remember how I mentioned it is often taught that if a word has an apostrophe it's possessive? We are here yet again to discuss how that is incorrect, this time with "you're" and "your".

"Your" is the possessive in this sense. "Do your homework" implies that you are in possession of the homework, you poor thing. "Your ruining my life" implies that you possess the ruining. Sometimes what would normally be a verb can be used as a noun, such as "meddling" in "Your meddling has ruined my plan". This may seem complicated, and if it does, it's best to stick with the first example in this section.

"You're" is a contraction of "you" and "are". "You are ruining my life" = "You're ruining my life". It is often mistaken as the possessive because of its apostrophe. "Do you're homework" would translate to "Do you are homework".

Please note that Spellcheck, while great, often glances over these mistakes because they are all spelled correctly. All Spellcheck does is check your spelling. This is why we proof-read. There are, to my knowledge, grammatical checkers out there that you can install or come roped in with Microsoft Word and other programs, but it's still important to know these rules for if you're ever caught without one. Hopefully you will find this useful.