Why Do So Many Native English Speakers Write "your" When They Mean "you're"?

[Statebriga]

Do they really not know the difference or what? And how can so many people have problems with it?

[Statebriga]

It wasn't my intention to insult anyone, but I'm genuinely curious about it. I see it everywhere, from Facebook to online forums, and it almost always comes from native speakers. I thought maybe they do it on purpose to make it short, but I see so many other similar mistakes as well. But this one seems to be so common I have to wonder why so many people have trouble with it. Is it that they don't pay attention or they really can't understand the difference?

[shoota]

Intelligence and levels of education vary.
Why should someone be denied the use of the internet because they may lack a little learning?

[jno]

I don't see any ridiculing in the OP, just a request for information, which is what the site is for. I'd say the answer is more likely carelessness than ignorance; in a chat site people do their best to type as quickly as they talk, and mistakes are easily made.

[Maydup]

The increased use of social media and the internet simply makes us more aware of the quality (or lack ) of our English language skills than we ever used to be.

20 years ago we wrote letters to our relatives or if we worked in an office, but socially we were reliant on the spoken word. Just think of it as pub talk which has never been brilliant!

[ChillDoubt]

I don't see it as criticism, to me it's educating.
After all, would you stick with a book that was consistently grammatically incorrect throughout? I couldn't.

[anneasquith]

I'm sure I make my fair share of errors, but, I'm on the net not writing an English essay. I'm not really bothered !!!!!!!!!!

[kvalidir]

I've read lots, by some exceptionally gifted novelists- Joyce for example and Beckett were none too fond of traditional grammar. Especially with a narrative, punctuation sometimes drags you off track and stifles the language- imho anyway :)

[Hypognosis]

@kvaldir

//Hypog- // don't like seeing it GET messed up//.

Your tense is wrong it should be either ' to see it get' or 'getting'.//

Two actions happened - it got messed up (action completed) . I am seeing it now (action ongoing)

Hmm, this is what happens when you copy other people's modes of speech, as popularised by TV and the 'net. ;-)

I still want to know why it's not possible to simply offer a correction to someone - 'free help', to stop them from looking uneducated in future, like kval has done here, but they throw it back in your face and tell you that you're on your high horse (or someone else steps in to say that).

What if it's OCD or something, obsessively correcting people?

[ChillDoubt]

I still want to know why it's not possible to simply offer a correction to someone - 'free help', to stop them from looking uneducated in future, like kval has done here, but they throw it back in your face and tell you that you're on your high horse (or someone else steps in to say that).
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Concur with that totally. If the attitude some have to grammar was the same as that of my son's English/media teachers I'd be frankly mortified.
I'm no expert, far from it(I often confuse myself as to whether to use an apostrophe or not) but I believe the basics like 'could of=could have' and the uses of their, there and they're ought to be corrected.

If a child got a sum or calculation wrong I'd expect a Maths teacher to correct it and point out the error.
Aren't we allowed to do the same with English? Or shall we just butcher it ad infinitum?

[kvalidir]

Sorry Hypog you are, in my opinion, wrong. We can argue all night about this but I imagine you will stick to your guns and I to mine.
The two action argument is flimsy at best- there is nothing to necessarily suggest that the action of it it being messed up is in the past- that implies that it's not ongoing- which ought to please you ;-) , the natural assumption is you are commenting about a current happening therefore making both tenses present.
Even if I were to agree with you, I would be forced to say that it sounds clumsy and underlines perfectly my point about why many notable authors ignore grammar and punctuation- because it actually detracts from the language- and I don't watch TV ;-)

[Mamyalynne]

I think we should take this in context surely - rather different to correct a job application letter than pull someone up over a hastily dashed off post on a forum.


I have Grandchildren on the autistic spectrum,the first thing I do on viewing a piece of their written work is to praise their imagination and content - I might then approach whether there are any errors we could look at and improve.


Year on year as I more of my sight I realise how much fuss is made over things that are to a great extent unimportant.


I would rather employ someone who is passionate about their job but makes the odd grammatical error than one who is word perfect but lacks the other skills I need.

[Mamyalynne]

Here we go....correction

Year on year as I (lose) more of my sight

[ChillDoubt]

Think about these two instances:

How confident would you be in a Doctor who mis-spelt your prescription, diagnosis or treatment?

How irked would you be if someone consistently got the spelling of your name wrong?

[Mamyalynne]

How confident would you be in a Doctor who mis-spelt your prescription, diagnosis or treatment? "Not much as he should have passed many exams"

How irked would you be if someone consistently got the spelling of your name wrong? "Happens every day" I just politely correct them as it is unusual.

[kvalidir]

People ALWAYS mis-spell my name- they omit the apostrophe that is slap bang in the middle of it, and even on occasion argue with me that there cannot be one- and it doesn't matter ;-)
Doctors clearly need to be literate and it would be impossible for them to complete their training if they were not- but that doesn't extend to 'your' and 'you're' necessarily surely?
Shakespeare made his own words up completely, does that offend you?

[ChillDoubt]

Shakespeare made his own words up completely, does that offend you?
-----------------
Eh? Why would that offend me?
As you say, we'll have to agree to disagree. I'll just be thankful if that sort of attitude remains out of teacher training colleges!

[Mamyalynne]

Oh well,goodnight.

[kvalidir]

I assumed, evidently wrongly, that if poor grammar and punctuation upset you, then people making words up to suit themselves willy nilly would have given you a fit :)
Since you don't mind, I think that's eximberantly scrumptidumptious of yous ;-)

[Hypognosis]

Now that you mention it, it seems I mis-spelled kvalidir's name, as 'kvaldir'. Sorry!

She didn't notice, luckily. Or, at least, didn't comment on it.

She also didn't notice that I had conceded she was correct, which rather leaves me feeling that she didn't read my post entirely.

Final quibble though, when a friend's face has been messed up, that's a completed action. The act of me seeing it, or the expression of the desire to not see it happen (or seeing it happen, at any stage of the future), happens later.

:-P

[ChillDoubt]

Woteva! LOL