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Implosion Sphere for Fat Man nearly assembled and about to be placed inside it's casing. "Its casing". Why do people have such a problem with it's and its?

by vixin 12y ago

robmcm 12y ago
Because it's the opposite of how you deal with possessives in other situations. ...inside Fat Man's casing... I assume you knew that though and were just being an ass.
- Tenhundfeld 12y ago
  I think OP was just being an ass, but whether the behavior is opposite really depends on your frame of reference. The lack of apostrophe is consistent with how you deal with possessive pronouns: his, her/hers, our/ours, etc. No possessive pronouns have apostrophes, with one exception. And the apostrophe is consistent with how other contractions work. If you remember (and care) that its and it's are two separate words, then you should be able think your way through it. It's could legitimately be possessive or a contraction, but its can only be the possessive. Anyway, I agree with you that it's tricky enough that we shouldn't be assholes about it.
sophacles 12y ago
Because it's backwards of how apostrophes normally work. In all other cases, it is the right place to use an apostrophe: * ...about to be placed in Fat Man's casing. * ...about to be placed in the bomb's casing * ... about to be placed in its casing. One of those is not like the others.
- scrollaway 12y ago
  It helps to understand how it actually works. The s in its does not point towards possession, it is simply part of the word "its". My, His, Hers, Ours, Yours, Theirs, Its. Not Me's, He's, She's, Us's, Your's, Their's, It's. English is an easy language. Most languages use a lot more words than all that to convey all that. English speakers don't have to deal with the singular second person, with a separate objective noun for you/he/she, with neutrals (heck, barely at all with the feminine), and so on. So make an effort. Get its right :)
  - kyberias 12y ago
    I think this doesn't help. What is relevant is that there are two forms: it's and its. Its easy to mix them by non-natives like myself. No-one ever writes She's or Us's, but "It's" is valid as is its. It's easy to deduce that one should not write us's but it's not that easy with it. :)
    - scrollaway 12y ago
      "It's" is a contraction of "it is", it doesn't exist in and of itself. Maybe that helps more?
      - kyberias 12y ago
        Argh... now I really got it backwards. What I meant to say was that one does not write "shes", one writes "her", and not "wes" but "our". And that does not apply to "it". To summarize, comparison to other personal pronouns is irrelevant since "it" has a special combination of rules.
        scrollaway 12y ago
        I'm not sure how "it" is special". Because its possessive ends in an s? So do "theirs", "hers", and "ours" (which I think are the ones you meant). I think you're having a hard time because you're overcomplicating the matter. "its" is the possessive of "it". "it's" is a contraction of "it is". Possessives adjectives: My, Your, His, Her, Their, Its. Possessive pronouns: Mine, Yours, His, Her, Theirs, Its. You have four less to remember than with most languages :)
        kyberias 12y ago
        I'm not sure why you need to tell me I'm having a hard time. I don't feel like having a hard time with this issue. Also I'm not overcomplicating anything. You said it yourself: you're not sure how "it" is special. I'm sorry, I cannot help you any further. Maybe others in this thread can.
- sgustard 12y ago
  All English pronouns are nonstandard, different from each other, and different from nouns. You can bother to learn it or not, you're choice. I mean your choice. Yer?
ryandvm 12y ago
Because English is like Javascript - it's weird and is riddled with vestigial design errors, but since it's everywhere, we're all forced to use it.
- scrollaway 12y ago
  Part of why English is everywhere is because it is extremely flexible, malleable and very lax about its own rules. Otherwise we'd all be speaking French. I prefer to see English like I see Python. Younger, easier, more flexible and more self-aware than the languages it draws its roots from, and fun enough that it has a lot of influence on every other language.
  - angersock 12y ago
    Python? More flexible? English is more like Ruby than anything else.
- zura 12y ago
  Egzactli.
- Moru 12y ago
  I think people coming from other languages have another view of English. As a "swede" I find it surprisingly logical and easy to learn. I bet someone from Finland would agree :-)
  - scrollaway 12y ago
    You're at an advantage. Swedish is essentially just an antiquated english (I mean that in a good way). The difference in learning Swedish between before and after I learned English was night on pluto and day on venus.

Implosion Sphere for Fat Man nearly assembled and about to be placed inside it's casing. "Its casing". Why do people have such a problem with it's and its?

by vixin 12y ago

Implosion Sphere for Fat Man nearly assembled and about to be placed inside it's casing. "Its casing". Why do people have such a problem with it's and its?

robmcm 12y ago

Because it's the opposite of how you deal with possessives in other situations. ...inside Fat Man's casing... I assume you knew that though and were just being an ass.

Tenhundfeld 12y ago
I think OP was just being an ass, but whether the behavior is opposite really depends on your frame of reference. The lack of apostrophe is consistent with how you deal with possessive pronouns: his, her/hers, our/ours, etc. No possessive pronouns have apostrophes, with one exception. And the apostrophe is consistent with how other contractions work. If you remember (and care) that its and it's are two separate words, then you should be able think your way through it. It's could legitimately be possessive or a contraction, but its can only be the possessive. Anyway, I agree with you that it's tricky enough that we shouldn't be assholes about it.

sophacles 12y ago

Because it's backwards of how apostrophes normally work. In all other cases, it is the right place to use an apostrophe: * ...about to be placed in Fat Man's casing. * ...about to be placed in the bomb's casing * ... about to be placed in its casing. One of those is not like the others.

scrollaway 12y ago
It helps to understand how it actually works. The s in its does not point towards possession, it is simply part of the word "its". My, His, Hers, Ours, Yours, Theirs, Its. Not Me's, He's, She's, Us's, Your's, Their's, It's. English is an easy language. Most languages use a lot more words than all that to convey all that. English speakers don't have to deal with the singular second person, with a separate objective noun for you/he/she, with neutrals (heck, barely at all with the feminine), and so on. So make an effort. Get its right :)
- kyberias 12y ago
  I think this doesn't help. What is relevant is that there are two forms: it's and its. Its easy to mix them by non-natives like myself. No-one ever writes She's or Us's, but "It's" is valid as is its. It's easy to deduce that one should not write us's but it's not that easy with it. :)
  - scrollaway 12y ago
    "It's" is a contraction of "it is", it doesn't exist in and of itself. Maybe that helps more?
    - kyberias 12y ago
      Argh... now I really got it backwards. What I meant to say was that one does not write "shes", one writes "her", and not "wes" but "our". And that does not apply to "it". To summarize, comparison to other personal pronouns is irrelevant since "it" has a special combination of rules.
      - scrollaway 12y ago
        I'm not sure how "it" is special". Because its possessive ends in an s? So do "theirs", "hers", and "ours" (which I think are the ones you meant). I think you're having a hard time because you're overcomplicating the matter. "its" is the possessive of "it". "it's" is a contraction of "it is". Possessives adjectives: My, Your, His, Her, Their, Its. Possessive pronouns: Mine, Yours, His, Her, Theirs, Its. You have four less to remember than with most languages :)
        kyberias 12y ago
        I'm not sure why you need to tell me I'm having a hard time. I don't feel like having a hard time with this issue. Also I'm not overcomplicating anything. You said it yourself: you're not sure how "it" is special. I'm sorry, I cannot help you any further. Maybe others in this thread can.
sgustard 12y ago
All English pronouns are nonstandard, different from each other, and different from nouns. You can bother to learn it or not, you're choice. I mean your choice. Yer?

ryandvm 12y ago

Because English is like Javascript - it's weird and is riddled with vestigial design errors, but since it's everywhere, we're all forced to use it.

scrollaway 12y ago
Part of why English is everywhere is because it is extremely flexible, malleable and very lax about its own rules. Otherwise we'd all be speaking French. I prefer to see English like I see Python. Younger, easier, more flexible and more self-aware than the languages it draws its roots from, and fun enough that it has a lot of influence on every other language.
- angersock 12y ago
  Python? More flexible? English is more like Ruby than anything else.
zura 12y ago
Egzactli.
Moru 12y ago
I think people coming from other languages have another view of English. As a "swede" I find it surprisingly logical and easy to learn. I bet someone from Finland would agree :-)
- scrollaway 12y ago
  You're at an advantage. Swedish is essentially just an antiquated english (I mean that in a good way). The difference in learning Swedish between before and after I learned English was night on pluto and day on venus.