Its and It's

I know that people sometimes get tripped up by its and it's since the possessive apostrophe gets in the way of knowing which is which.

A way to figure it out, at least in this example is that the contraction convention trumps the possessive rule.

It's is the contraction for "it is". The apostrophe represents the missing letter.

That leaves its to be possessive. This isn't the only possessive to not use an apostrophe. There is also his and hers that I can think of off the top of my head.


To recap: it's = it is, its = possessive.
The house, it's beautiful, sadly its lawn needs works.


Hope that clears things up.

Just a little pet peeve

A short post for now since it is about one of my little pet peeves. I won't keep you for long.

I see people writing "irregardless" on the internet. Why? The idea is already conveyed in the word regardless. Please stop writing irregardless as that is not even a word, and if it was, would probably be the opposite of what is trying to be said!

So again, it is regardless, not irregardless!

My profound thanks if this advice is heeded!

There, their and they're...

This should be a simple thing to remember and follow, but I see these used improperly all over the place...

There: [adv] basically indicating a location. There are a few other uses, please see the full listing here.

Their: [poss. adj/pron.] indicating a possession. Details here.

They're: [contr.] a contraction of they are





There, standing with their umbrellas, are four men wondering where they're going to eat lunch.

Not a great literary piece, but hey, it gets the point across.... I hope. Please keep them straight!

Discreet and discrete

Another word post:

Discreet and discrete are pronounced exactly the same, so you have to go with context to figure out which one is meant. 

Discreet: [adjective] careful and prudent, especially when trying to keep a secret


Discrete: [adjective] individually separate and distinct

So when trying to sneak by someone or trying to not to say something embarrassing, you are discreet.
And when you have separate things going on, you have discrete variables (especially used in math)



The definitions are loosely based on the Oxford Canadian English Dictionary

Stationary and stationery

Ok, so there is a difference between these two words and it'd be lovely if we could all remember it. If we can't, here is a little reminder for us:

Stationary: [adjective] not moving or not intended to be moved
Where you stand still or something doesn't move.

Stationery: [mass noun] for writing and other office materials
To be found in a store where you can buy pretty paper and such.

Clear now? Excellent!