Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/04/07
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]On 4/8/02 firkin@balhpl01.ncable.net.au wrote: >> Uh, Ted, may I politely remind you that it's is a shortening of "it is" and >> you should have typed "its"? Thus, you've typed "just twist the ring to it >> is closest focus point". >I suspect you are wrong as well -- should it be its'? In any case, with all >the e-mail shortenings why pick on a silly compromise rule for a language >which doesn't have enough words ;-) no, he's right "its'" would be the possesive plural of "it", which makes no sense at all from: <http://www.bartleby.com/64/C003/0185.html> The American HeritageŽ Book of English Usage. A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English. 1996. "3. Word Choice: New Uses, Common Confusion, and Constraints § 185. its / it's Its is the possessive form of the pronoun it and is never written with an apostrophe: The cat licked its paws. The contraction it's (for it is or it has) always has an apostrophe: It's the funniest show I've seen in years." - -- John Brownlow http://www.pinkheadedbug.com - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html