contractions,
couldve+could of,
shouldve+should of,
wouldve+would of
Proper diction requires an understanding of words that are commonly confused.
I could of earned a better grade in the class. I should of studied more. I would of been able to raise my grade point average if I had.
The terms "could of," "should of," and "would of" are incorrect. These are nonstandard homophones of contracted verbs and should never be used in standard written English.
The contractions "could've" ("could" + "have"), "should've" ("should" + "have"), and "would've" ("would" + "have") sound like the nonstandard terms "could of," "should of," and "would of." The latter set of terms should not be used in writing that is meant to conform to the rules of standard written English.
I could have earned a better grade in the class. I should have studied more. I would have been able to raise my grade point average if I had.
contractions,
pronouns
Proper diction requires an understanding of words that are commonly confused.
The words “your” and “you're” are homophones: they sound alike, but they have different meanings. Keep the different definitions in mind when you spell these words.
The word "your" is a personal possessive adjective that means "belonging to you."
The word "you're" is a contraction of "you are."
Watch your step when you're walking through the kitchen. You're not going to believe this, but your sister spilled an entire bottle of olive oil on the floor.
Replace "your" and "you're" with their definitions to see how these words fit into the sentences.
Watch [the] step belonging to you when you are walking through the kitchen. You are not going to believe this, but [the] sister belonging to you spilled an entire bottle of olive oil on the floor.
Test the usage of "your" and "you're" in the following sentences by replacing these words with their definitions.
- Your coming with us.
- Belonging to you coming with us.
This does not make sense. Replace "your" with the definition of "you're" to see how it makes sense in the sentence.
- You are coming with us.
- You're coming with us.
This makes sense. The use of "you're" in this context is correct.
contractions,
pronouns
Proper diction requires an understanding of words that are commonly confused.
The words "their," "there," and "they're" are homophones: they sound alike, but they have different meanings. Keep the different definitions in mind when you spell these words.
"Their" is a
personal possessive adjective that means "belonging to them."
My friends brought their dog with them. [The dog belongs to them.]
"There" is a word that takes several parts of speech. It is most commonly used as an adverb meaning "in that place."
I put your book there. [I put your book in that place. The adverb "there" modifies the verb "put" and answers the question "Where?"]
As a noun, "there" means "that place; that point."
If you drive halfway, I will take it from there. [I will take it from that point.]
As an adjective, "there" means "able to be relied upon; fully conscious or aware." These meanings are usually part of the idioms "there for (someone)" and "all there."
My sister is dependable and she is always there for me. My brother is a flake; he's not all there. [My sister is able to be relied upon and my brother is not fully aware of things.]
"They're" is a contraction of "they are."
They're my siblings and I love them both. [They are my siblings.]
contractions,
pronouns
Proper diction requires an understanding of words that are commonly confused.
The words "its" and "it's" are homophones: they sound alike, but they have different meanings. Keep the different definitions in mind when you spell these words.
"Its" is a personal possessive pronoun that means "belonging to it."
"It's" is a contraction of "it is" or "it has."
Continue reading "its/it's"
