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Triangle Grammar Guide
Longtime N&O journalist Pam Nelson writes about language use and misuse and answers questions about grammar and style. Readers can weigh in on what annoys them, too. Think of this as your online grammar class. Send e-mail to Pam at pam.nelson@newsobserver.com.
Let's get "its" right
Submitted by Pam_Nelson on 07/05/2008 - 08:17
My colleague Karen spotted this sign at Umstead State Park:
The sign writer needed the possessive "its" in the second sentence, of course. (Notice the wildlife crawling on the word "wildlife"!)
[P.S. added Monday morning: Take a look at the comments for a dissent and an answer.]
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Pam Nelson
Pam Nelson began her career as a writer in 1976 and has worked in various editing jobs at The News & Observer since 1987. She has won awards for her headline writing and has taught college classes in copy editing and seminars in grammar and usage.
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Comments
Possessive
Fri, 07/11/2008 - 10:18 — scoccaIf you had a dog named "It", and the dog had a collar, the collar would be It's collar.
But if there is a collar-wearing dog whose name you do not know, the collar is his collar, her collar, or--if no gender is known--its collar.
Possessive
Fri, 07/11/2008 - 14:48 — Pam_Nelson (author)Funny. That's right. If the dog were named It, the possessive would be It's.
Would you name a dog "It"? Â
Pam Nelson
Triangle Grammar GuideÂ
Tiresome answer
Mon, 07/07/2008 - 07:29 — Pam_Nelson (author)Baldezar wonders why I don't write about why "its" is written without an apostrophe and about what the rules are. OK, here goes:
No possessive pronouns that end in "s" are written with apostrophes: yours, his, hers. If you remember that, you'll never go wrong.
Here is a longer explanation: In Old English, nouns changed form to indicate case (how the noun was used in a sentence). One case was the genitive, which indicated possession. The noun in the genitive case took a suffix, often -es. That survives today in the possessive case when we write it 's (with an apostrophe). Pronouns are the throwbacks to Old English. They change with case: I (nominative), me (objective), my or mine (possessive).
apostrophes
Sun, 07/06/2008 - 10:18 — Baldezar (not verified)Rather than merely pointing out someone's blunder for amusement, how about providing a little insight. Why is it that the possessive "its" is formed without an apostrophe, when in most cases both the possessive and the contraction are formed with "'s"? For example, Pam's column could be a lot more interesting if she provided some discussion of grammatical rules and errors, instead of just point them out. Or, I wonder if Pam's going to write another column as tiresome as this one for her next entry.
On a similar note, one of the more amusing observations I regularly make is the sighting of the "Mens" department in nearly every department store I visit. How many mens are they talking about, I wonder?
Its vs. It's
Sat, 07/05/2008 - 15:44 — dineer526I call these issues "apostro-tastrophes." And I write about them frequently...because they are EVERYWHERE!!!
 http://www.liveandletdi.com/my_weblog/grammar_rants/index.html
Umstead Park sign errors
Sat, 07/05/2008 - 10:47 — Diana Sisson (not verified)Regarding the Umstead Park sign, shouldn't the third sentence read:
"...it is even more essential that the park land BE preserved..."
Have we totally omitted the subjunctive mood from the English language? :-)