Confusing you're with your, and vice versa, is a very common spelling mistake that everyone has made at least once, even native English speakers. Among other things, it is a grammatical error that can be quite irritating and cause confusion in the readers. Fortunately, once you understand how to distinguish the two words, you will hardly be wrong again.
Steps
Method 1 of 1: Using You're and Your
Step 1. Try to figure out the correct function of the word you need
The best way is to hear how the sentence sounds. You can give it a try with a substitution test which will confirm with certainty which word is suitable for the specific context. Before deciding whether to use your or you're, read the sentence using you are. If it makes sense, then you're right. If not, you have to use your. You could also replace your with my in the sentence. If it makes sense, then use the adjective.
Step 2. Use a mnemonic trick to help you distinguish between the two words
A mnemonic trick is a tactic that helps you remember something. You may find it useful for keeping in mind the difference between you're and yours. Among other strategies, parallelism and images are usually effective memory tools.
- Consider the phrase If you're writing it you're, you're writing it right ("If you're writing when you're writing, then you're writing it right"). In this specific case, when you write, you take an action, so the contraction you're is correct.
- You might also try to remember a sentence like Your ORutraged Unicorns R.ace (literally, "Your outraged unicorns run"). The initials of these words form your, the correct word to use in such a sentence. Since unicorns belong to you, so they are yours, you will use yours.
Step 3. You're is the contraction or combination of the words you and are. Other examples of contractions? Here are a few: doesn't (does not), they're (they are) and can't (can not).
- The phrase You're a good friend, "You are a good friend", can also be written as follows: You are a good friend.
- The sentence I don't know what you're talking about, "I don't know what you're talking about", can also be written like this: I do not know what you are talking about.
Step 4. Remember that you're is actually the contracted form of you are, "you are"
Consequently, it has two very important functions in a sentence or proposition. Since it includes both a pronoun and a verb, you're always contains the subject and at least part of the verbal predicate of any sentence in which it appears.
Step 5. Your, "your / your / your / your / your / your / your", is instead a second-person singular and plural possessive pronoun. The possessive form refers to something that a person you speak of or your interlocutor possesses. Your therefore reflects a property, just like mine, "mine", or ours, "ours".
- Is your stomach growling?, "Is your stomach rumbling?".
- Your book is on the table, "Your book is on the table".
Step 6. Remember that the possessive pronoun your is usually not followed by an adjective, or a descriptive word, when this adjective is used to describe your interlocutor
In other words, saying Your very kind is incorrect. In this case, using your would only be right to describe a noun, for example in the sentence Your nice son brought me my coat, which literally means "Your nice son brought me my coat". In this case, your nice is correct because it serves to describe the interlocutor's child
Step 7. Consider some examples
The following sentences show the misuse of your and you're and why they are wrong.
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I can't read you're handwriting, which literally means "I can't understand you're handwriting".
This sentence is wrong because the contraction of you are is used in place of the possessive pronoun. I can't read you are handwriting doesn't make sense. The contraction should be replaced with your
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If your hungry, then you should probably eat something, which would literally mean "If your hungry, then you should eat something".
This sentence is wrong because the possessive pronoun makes no sense in such a context. In English, the expression to be hungry is used to say that you are hungry, your hungry literally means "your hungry". Try replacing the pronoun with you are or you're and you will see that the sentence is correct
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I think your very smart, which would literally mean "I think your very smart".
This example is also wrong. Being very smart is not an object that can belong to your interlocutor, so the sentence doesn't make any sense. Replace your with you're or you are
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I'm smarter than you're, "I'm smarter than you".
This form is correct, because the contraction of you are was used instead of the possessive pronoun. However, this unusual usage can be confusing, so avoid ending a sentence with you're, even if it's grammatically correct
Advice
- Try to remember the phrase You're not spelling your words correctly, "You're not spelling your words correctly," to keep in mind the difference between you're and yours.
- Remember that the possessive pronoun your does not work never followed by the articles the, a and an.
- The most trivial grammar mistakes, such as misuse of your and you're, can affect your credibility when others read the texts you write, such as essays and resumes. Learning to use these words correctly is in your best interest.
- There is another word, yore, which is pronounced like you're and your. It is a form that is not often used in informal dialogues. Among other things, the meaning has nothing to do with these two words, it means "once", "in the past".
