Forever Grammar is a series on Forever Endeavour which will iron out all of your grammar woes. It will ensure your writing is spick and span, to match the brilliant ideas you have, and boost your confidence. We will cover everything from the basics of punctuation to the common errors in spelling. If you have any questions, be sure to leave a comment, and we will always get back to you.
‘Your’ and ‘You’re’ are commonly mistaken for one another in writing. This article will help clear up the difference to help you make your writing clearer and boost your confidence with your grammar.
What is the difference?
If you remember our article on apostrophes, this identified when an apostrophe contracts a word into a shorter word, such as when ‘they are’ becomes ‘they’re’. Remembering this is the easiest way to tell ‘your’ and ‘you’re’ apart. This is because ‘you’re’ is actually a shortened version of ‘you are’, while ‘your’ is possessive, to show who something belongs to. Once you’ve got the hang on this, it makes it easier to tell the two apart.
A question you can ask yourself to double-check is ‘Can I replace it with ‘you are’?’. If the answer is yes, then it is ‘you’re’, but if the answer is no, you would use ‘your’.
How to use ‘your’
Your is possessive, therefore it indicates who something belongs to or who you are speaking to. For example:
What is your name?
You left your coat behind.
How to use ‘you’re’
‘You’re’ is the contraction of the phrase ‘you are’, meaning whenever you use this, you should be able to replace it with ‘you are’ and still have the sentence make sense. For example:
You’re hired! = You are hired!
I’ll be there if you’re there = I’ll be there if you are there.
Homophones can be difficult to wrap your head around, but hopefully remembering this quick rule will make using ‘your’ and ‘you’re’ a lot easier. Don’t forget you can always come back to this guide if you need any support when writing.
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