Re: [Leica] How not to spell "Hers" WAS how to spell 'lens'

[Johnny Deadman <john@pinkheadedbug.com>]

on 1/29/01 4:18 PM, MEBérubé at MEB@goodphotos.com wrote:

> Sic Luceat Lux:
> If Lucy has a certain characteristic we say "the quirk is her's" when
> speaking of it. If some non-gendered thing has a characteristic we say "the
> quirk is its" (or less awkwardly we refer to "Its quirk.") Both are
> relating possession but only the one uses the -'s-. For those folks used to
> other (more intuitive and consistent) languages this sort of nonsense rule
> is what makes Modern English so irritating.

You're (only kidding) example above is wrong. The apostrophe in "her's" is a
mistake. It all has to do with the cases in Anglo Saxon. But too boring to
go into here. All you have to remember is that he, she and it don't use
apostrophes to indicate possession. The only "it's" that is correct is the
one that's short for "it is".
- -- 
Johnny Deadman

http://www.pinkheadedbug.com