Your, You're & Then, Than Options

[Nymphetamine]

How come so many people don't know the difference between your and you're? Same goes for Then and Than.

Most of the people who mix these up are English speaking people. If someone like me couldn't tell the difference between them, it'll be acceptable; I don't take English classes, I speak French most of the time, I even forget most English words. I only communicate in English with my Family and the internet.
I can't even tell when to start a new paragraph. I don't live in an English speaking country.

Sometimes I see; your beautiful. I stay home more then I go out. Like wtf?

Is this a new trend?

Also, I've noticed that many people say; It's the internet, bla bla. So what? Believe it or not, your internet grammar affects your RL grammar.

I remember when I was much younger, I used 'ke' for 'que' or 'ki' for 'qui'. I f-cked up in French essays.

I can't believe I typed all that.

[*Kathleen*]

I LOVE YOU SANDRA. That's because people are dumb. My God. Then they get anal about my correcting them. It's really not a hard concept to grasp.

P.S. I'm proud of you for posting that long of a topic.

[emazing]

... This is possibly the worst trend I've ever seen.
You're right. The way you present yourself online will gradually affect the way you talk/write in reality, but most people just choose to ignore it.

[*My Cinderella.*]

Thank youuu. You're completely right.

[*Kathleen*]

^ But "then" and "than" are a letter off. No one's pressuring you - it should come naturally if you've been taught correctly. Another one that bothers me: their, they're, there.

[Nymphetamine]

^ Those too! Seriously. Their not coming? WTF?

[magicfann]

so what? YOUR friggin stupid its not like ppl on the internet r gonna change what THEIR doing just to fit ur needs.
cuz if they did THAN i`d be CPL

LoLuMaD?

[Nymphetamine]

So what? I won't even give a valid answer to that.

[*Kathleen*]

so what? YOUR friggin stupid its not like ppl on the internet r gonna change what THEIR doing just to fit ur needs.
cuz if they did THAN i`d be CPL

LoLuMaD?

You're irksome. And you smell funny!

[jue]

On cb I try to correct all my mistakes, but when on chat and stuff I just type whatever. I know the difference between your, you're, then, than but I don't always use it properly in a sentence.

Most likely they do know the difference

[Nymphetamine]

But chat is different. Although I type correctly. But like in the 'cB is hiring' thread! Holy f-ck!

[AngelinaTaylor]

OMG I thought I was the only one who hated that. THANK YOU for posting that. I mean, I've been speaking English for almost four years and I don't mix them up.. Yet my Canadian friends do all the time.

And people online always say, "F off, it's the internet". And I reply, "Fine. Be stupid."

>.<

[*I Shot JFK*]

so what? YOUR friggin stupid its not like ppl on the internet r gonna change what THEIR doing just to fit ur needs.
cuz if they did THAN i`d be CPL

LoLuMaD?

Congratualtions! You're really stupid!

[lalalaLANUH]

Well, on cB I'm not all that particular. I don't really reread or anything. But yes, in real life I agree. Sometimes when I visit my dad at work his boss will ask me to correct his grammer and spelling. I'm like wtf? A-I learned this stuff in third grade. You're the head of a pretty big company, so why haven't you learned proper English? And B-Do I look like spell check to you?

[KissMe2408]

Sometimes it's just an honest mistake when you are typing.
Your mind is on other important things and it just slips.
I mean I know i've done that accidently on very important papers for college, and when I proofread I'm like, "oh, whoops, gotta fix that."
On online chat forums i'm less inclined to proof read through things, usually because people aren't as picky about that sort of thing like your english professors are.

It's not exactly hard to remember the difference between "Your" and "You're", but I wouldn't get down on people too much if they slip up. Sometimes it is just an honest mistake, or they didn't know any better. They might have been taught in highschool or middle school most likely, but they probably were passing notes to the cute boy or girl sitting across from them in English class, so they missed that lesson.

[Nymphetamine]

If it's an honest mistake, sure. But it's really disturbing when people make it over and over again. And when they're corrected, they're like; it's the internet, get over it.

[AngelinaTaylor]

^ yeah. And sometimes it's actually hard to understand what they mean.

If people understand the difference, why is it so hard for them to distinguish those words? Do they do the mistakes on purpose or something?

[*Kathleen*]

If it's an honest mistake, sure. But it's really disturbing when people make it over and over again. And when they're corrected, they're like; it's the internet, get over it.

EXACTLY. People don't do it once - they do it a billion times. I understand by accident - ONE TIME. But more than that? Then it's not an "honest mistake." Just admit that you're dumb, and that you didn't pay attention in class. I mean, it's honestly saying something if both Sandra and Angelina Taylor (sorry I don't know your name ) AREN'T NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS AND THEY'RE CORRECTING US.

[*I Shot JFK*]

if people really understand the difference, then they ought to be in the habit of doing it correctly, and won't make such mistakes time and time again.

and kathleen makes me happy.

[Nymphetamine]

Suzzette! It's not about understanding what you're saying, it's about . . . damnit! It's f-cking stupid, for the love of satan!

Most of you understand leet but does that make it less irksome? NO!

[*Kathleen*]

^x2 Yeah, but the people I have in mind ARE from here.

Well you can't assume that everyone here is a native english speaker! I'm not, but most people think I am. Well, I actually learned two languages at the same time but mastered the other one before English..(I grew up in a tri-cultural, bi-racial home). Some people make more mistakes than others, and not everyone catches their mistakes all the time.

Besides if I say "Do you're homework. It's better then doing theres!" you can't tell me you don't understand what I said. I mean if you can still understand it and they're not typing in sticky caps over 1337 and using "`"'s instead of " ' "' s then just try to deal with it.

Oh, and Angelina Taylor and Sandra aren't native speakers.

[*I Shot JFK*]

Angelina Taylor and Sandra aren't native english speakers either. They have managed to grasp the concept well enough.

It isn't always a question fo understanding. It is a question of the other person looking foolish. And there is nothing wrong with helping people to learn.

[Nymphetamine]

Also, I speak French 95 % of the time, I'm allowed to make that mistake. But 'they' live in America/Another English speaking country! It's NOT acceptable Suzzette.

I'm not perfect in French either but I know the basics.

If you can't tell the difference between 'your' and 'you're' then I'm sorry, you suck.

[*I Shot JFK*]

^ well, did she learn anything from that?

[KissMe2408]

But you have to understand the fact that sometimes it just turns into a bad habit. You know?
Kind of like some people spell weird as "wierd". Some don't know it's wrong, and others do but can't really break it because they have been doing it for so long.
Some people know that saying "your" is wrong in the sentence, but it comes out automatically because they have been using poor grammer for their entire lives and when someone finally bothered to correct them at school or something, it's harder for them to change. What probably will bother them is if they keep making that mistake, and then their peers online make them feel stupid about it. That will cause then to say, "Get over it!" or "Stop being so anal!"
And then some people just honestly slip up every once in a while because they aren't really paying attention.

Don't worry about it.
And you better get used to it, because unfortunately, there always will be atleast one person in the world that doesn't spell it the right way.

[*Kathleen*]

Oh, I knew that.
When I said that I was thinking more along the lines of people like Susan. She used to get bashed on a lot, though she was a sweet person--because of her spelling/grammar and other typing issues.

Aww I like Susan. It made me sad when people did that to her. But still, I make fun of those that I KNOW are native speakers.

Don't worry about it.
And you better get used to it, because unfortunately, there always will be atleast one person in the world that doesn't spell it the right way.

Yeah, but she was just pointing it out. Also, there are those that can learn from this.

[*StanleyThePanda*]

I screw up the "your" and "you're" thing, every now and then. When I am in a hurry.
and I think I mixed up "then" and "than" like.. once.

[*I Shot JFK*]

But you have to understand the fact that sometimes it just turns into a bad habit. You know?
Kind of like some people spell weird as "wierd". Some don't know it's wrong, and others do but can't really break it because they have been doing it for so long.
Some people know that saying "your" is wrong in the sentence, but it comes out automatically because they have been using poor grammer for their entire lives and when someone finally bothered to correct them at school or something, it's harder for them to change. What probably will bother them is if they keep making that mistake, and then their peers online make them feel stupid about it. That will cause then to say, "Get over it!" or "Stop being so anal!"
And then some people just honestly slip up every once in a while because they aren't really paying attention.

Don't worry about it.
And you better get used to it, because unfortunately, there always will be atleast one person in the world that doesn't spell it the right way.

well, why not try to break that habit? That explains it, but doesnt excuse it. Maybe, if people correct them enough, they will FIX IT, rather than complain about being correct. or, at least, that would be the intelligent response.

well, if we correct them all, that wont be true, now will it? unless you have a theory that the universe will implode if everyone gets their grammar right?

[Nymphetamine]

Also, it's not asking much. I don't see how hard it is to type; you're cool rather than your cool.

[lalalaLANUH]

^Skipping the two keys are faster, I suppose.

[Nymphetamine]

^ Explain this then; why do they type 'You're sister is beautiful'? Easy?

[HakunaMatata]

Well, it really is just a matter of making an honest mistake and just not looking over what you wrote. What really bugs me is when people purposely type "teh" for "the". OH MY GOODNESS. I've only seen it a few times, but still.

[AngelinaTaylor]

Well you can't assume that everyone here is a native english speaker! I'm not, but most people think I am. Well, I actually learned two languages at the same time but mastered the other one before English..(I grew up in a tri-cultural, bi-racial home). Some people make more mistakes than others, and not everyone catches their mistakes all the time.

Besides if I say "Do you're homework. It's better then doing theres!" you can't tell me you don't understand what I said. I mean if you can still understand it and they're not typing in sticky caps over 1337 and using "`"'s instead of " ' "' s then just try to deal with it.

Um. I'm not native either

[pedophile]

OMFG, I hate it when people do that. Seriously. I could understand if they only made that mistake once because they were in a hurry or something, but seriously, seeing it OVER & OVER AGAIN gives me a headache & makes me feel like whacking the person in the head.

Also, I hate how some people can be ignorant & instead of trying to learn from their mistake, they respond with "get over it".

[AngelinaTaylor]

I've read all the posts in this thread. I've been knowing Sandra wasn't a native english speaker, I know you aren't either.

But we weren't talking just about non-native people. Most Americans/Canadians do that mistake. People who have been born with English.

[Jeng]

i hate when people do that, they type your instead of you're or were instead of where

[demolished]

of course. i watched out for these common errors a lot.


alot & a lot is different

ALOT is not a word.

[anniepiee]

I think I have to marry you.
they're, their, there.
too, to.
GAH shoot me now.

[ktsou11]

Another common confusion is "It's" and "Its". It seems appropriate that "It's" should be posessive since there's an apostrophe. After a while, you get used to it but when I was first trying to memorize it, it hurt my brain. :[

[smoke]

It really annoys me too. -_-' The sad thing is that people honestly don't know the difference. It's not like they're just doing it because they're just chatting it up with their friends and not paying attention.

[*Kathleen*]

Another common confusion is "It's" and "Its". It seems appropriate that "It's" should be posessive since there's an apostrophe. After a while, you get used to it but when I was first trying to memorize it, it hurt my brain. :[

YES. I see that too often.

It really annoys me too. -_-' The sad thing is that people honestly don't know the difference. It's not like they're just doing it because they're just chatting it up with their friends and not paying attention.

YES.

[soEXCLUSIVE]

Ahaha, this reminds me of this icon I saw once.
"Your stupid."
"My stupid what?"

And the internet does waste people's minds if they type like that. These girls in my math class used STICKY CAPS on the cover of their math report. It wasn't an overly serious report, more like a one-page thing of facts, but COME ON. STICKY CAPS?

[n00b]

i know this kid that ALWAYS says your instead of you're
IT'S SO ANNOYING, damnit i mean seriously is spelling THAT hard?

[jennyjenny]

well sometimes i'm not thinking when i type so i type the wrong who's and whose

or lead and led

maybe people just need to go to english class more often?

[AngelinaTaylor]

its not really a big deal...no ones gonna be pissed if you forget an apostrophe =/

Apostrophies are important.

[femmefatale4160]

You're all right. It's annoying when people from English speaking countries don't know when to use punctuation and don't know the difference between "you're" and "your."

[*Statues/Shadows*]

Thank you. Someone besides me making a grammar rant!! For some reason, Sandra, I thought you got annoyed when people got annoyed by this stuff, but it's much more preferable to know you're irked.

And Angelina Taylor, just out of curiosity, what was your first language?

[Nymphetamine]

Thank you. Someone besides me making a grammar rant!! For some reason, Sandra, I thought you got annoyed when people got annoyed by this stuff, but it's much more preferable to know you're irked.

And Angelina Taylor, just out of curiosity, what was your first language?

I only get annoyed when it's exaggerated. But honestly, I HAD to post this.

Angelina speaks Bulgarian, I think.

[*Azarel*]

Sandra, for you: And I even changed my font, too. :P

In any case, Americans are extremely lazy, in case you couldn't tell. "It saves time"? Please, spare me. Typing out a few extra letters isn't going to save much more than nanoseconds. And it's because said Americans (in general) refuse to be cognizant of pretty much everything (including grammar/spelling rules) that other countries hate us. And we wonder why.

And I learned to speak Mandarin before English. :D

[*T0rmented_Soul*]

I like it when people get confused with your Right and You're right.

[Frizzank]

How come so many people don't know the difference between your and you're? Same goes for Then and Than.

Most of the people who mix these up are English speaking people. If someone like me couldn't tell the difference between them, it'll be acceptable; I don't take English classes, I speak French most of the time, I even forget most English words. I only communicate in English with my Family and the internet.
I can't even tell when to start a new paragraph. I don't live in an English speaking country.

Sometimes I see; your beautiful. I stay home more then I go out. Like wtf?

Is this a new trend?

Also, I've noticed that many people say; It's the internet, bla bla. So what? Believe it or not, your internet grammar affects your RL grammar.

I remember when I was much younger, I used 'ke' for 'que' or 'ki' for 'qui'. I f-cked up in French essays.

I can't believe I typed all that.

Another one that these silly people mess up is; there, they're and their.

[ichigofan]

I admit i didnt know the difference between you and you're but not knowing the difference between then and than is ridiculous, both have complete different meanings, I guess you can mistake them because they both sound similar ..

[Nymphetamine]

Sandra, for you: And I even changed my font, too. :P

In any case, Americans are extremely lazy, in case you couldn't tell. "It saves time"? Please, spare me. Typing out a few extra letters isn't going to save much more than nanoseconds. And it's because said Americans (in general) refuse to be cognizant of pretty much everything (including grammar/spelling rules) that other countries hate us. And we wonder why.

And I learned to speak Mandarin before English. :D

This font is SO much better. Can we get to know eachother more?

[*Azarel*]

I can't tell if that's sarcasm or not about the font.

And I'm up for it if you are; I won't bite. Much.

[Nymphetamine]

I wasn't being sarcastic, this font is better. Anyway, I can send by sending you a PM.

[adurf]

ah. i've seen soo many people type "than" when it's supposed to be then. they make me think i have poor grammar.

[*Kathleen*]

I only get annoyed when it's exaggerated. But honestly, I HAD to post this.

Angelina speaks Bulgarian, I think.

She does! My best friend is from Bulgaria. She tried to get me to join her Bulgarian dance group. I was intimidated and quit after a few weeks. Haha.

[deadgiveaway]

Thank you for this thread.

I know that some of you stated that they do know the difference... But it sure does not look like it. That irritates me as well - when people say that they know the difference, yet nothing they type proves that. I know I sound arrogant right now, but I honestly do not see why it is so hard.

And English is not my first language either. It is my main language now, but Cantonese and Mandarin definitely played a large part of my life, at least when I was younger, seeing as I started going to Chinese School when I was 5, and continued until I finished at age 14, and my parents do not know a lot of English. And yet, I (along with many other people) were able to learn and, dare I say, become very good at using correct spelling and grammar.

I definitely see how differentiating between "you're" and "your," etc., may be difficult for immigrants, or people just learning the language. Homophones are tricky. But most of the people I know who commit these errors on a regular basis were born here; we received the same education. I did not go elsewhere for tutoring to hone my "skills." Again, I guess I just do not totally see why it is so hard for some people , particularly people who have lived in a country where English is the main language, their whole life).

[Selv]

On the internet people type it like that because they type it once and dont feel like fixing it

[bballchick1]

I honestly don't think I have this problem, but I do notice a lot of people who do.

It gets annoying.

[*yrrnotelekktric*]

..you forgot THEIR.
no one knows the
difference with
that one either

[gelionie]

Thanks for writing this out.

Actually, this problem is found on Hongkong-based forums as well.

People think it cool to use other Chinese characters which sound the same to replace the original ones.

To me, it just shows how ignorant you are of your mother tongue.

Oh well.

[imm]

Truthfully, this is one of my biggest pet peeves...My friend told me that in his English class they learned that some root was the same, hence you could use those interchangeably. I doubt that though...

[AngelinaTaylor]

but still, you understand me dont you?
-sigh...of course i know the difference between words...but its not a grammer school...and at least if we miss apostrophies its still WAY less annoying than people who type gibber jabber LyKE Dizz or some other retarded way...

For me it's just as annoying.

Angelina speaks Bulgarian, I think.

Indeed, I do.

My best friend is from Bulgaria. She tried to get me to join her Bulgarian dance group. I was intimidated and quit after a few weeks. Haha

HAHAHA.. why did you quit?? It's so much fun!

[*Libertie*]

..you forgot THEIR.
no one knows the
difference with
that one either

That one's even worse, because it's there, their, and they're.

To, two, too.. Yeah.

I notice, but it really isn't annoying to me. I will admit that it makes me think slightly less of the person.

[cassjamminx]

i think it's because people are just bad at grammar soemtimes. it bothers me too

[Gigi]

I think some of the time they're just typos. People don't exactly read over their posts like they would with school essays, so they don't catch these things.

Doesn't make it any less annoying, though.

[datass]

Thanks for posting this
And you're so right, it gets really annoying sometimes.

[*Kathleen*]

Thank you for this thread.

I know that some of you stated that they do know the difference... But it sure does not look like it. That irritates me as well - when people say that they know the difference, yet nothing they type proves that. I know I sound arrogant right now, but I honestly do not see why it is so hard.

And English is not my first language either. It is my main language now, but Cantonese and Mandarin definitely played a large part of my life, at least when I was younger, seeing as I started going to Chinese School when I was 5, and continued until I finished at age 14, and my parents do not know a lot of English. And yet, I (along with many other people) were able to learn and, dare I say, become very good at using correct spelling and grammar.

I definitely see how differentiating between "you're" and "your," etc., may be difficult for immigrants, or people just learning the language. Homophones are tricky. But most of the people I know who commit these errors on a regular basis were born here; we received the same education. I did not go elsewhere for tutoring to hone my "skills." Again, I guess I just do not totally see why it is so hard for some people , particularly people who have lived in a country where English is the main language, their whole life).

I love you. Marry me?

On the internet people type it like that because they type it once and dont feel like fixing it

That's no excuse.

For me it's just as annoying.
Indeed, I do.
HAHAHA.. why did you quit?? It's so much fun!

It was hard. Besides, it looked a bit odd with all the extremely pale people I was dancing with. I felt out of place.

[no-name]

I am trying to figure out how people get then and than confused? It is easy not to get the two confused

[dinoooRAWR]

it bothers me too.
but i do it sometimes because im so careless

[pinacoolada]

You're irksome. And you smell funny!

anyway, it's true...it really anoys me. I also hate it when people spell "know" as "noe" and those stupid IM abbreviations like "w/e for whatever...

[LOWinSKANK]

My online "talk" doesn't affect me.. But I've always been good in english. It's not hard to know that You're = You ARE and Your = DUH, belonging to you or whatever.. And then & than, to know what it just takes common sense.
IDK, I don't understand how people could have problems with English if they grew up speaking the language.
Either you've got a learning disability, or you're just lazy.

[deadgiveaway]

I love you. Marry me?

Hahah. Flattered.



Of course I understand that people make careless mistakes, especially when they are typing quickly, but those do not happen on a regular basis. Even if the other person does not feel weird, I feel foolish when I am sitting here reading people's posts or chatting with someone, and I see something like "your stupid" or "their going out later."

[Mistress Bags]

It's terrible online, but you wouldn't believe how stupidly people write for school papers as well. My first college English class, I ended up in regular English instead of a more advanced one, so people got me to proofread their papers. I was always appalled at the bad grammar and spelling.

[*Kathleen*]

It's terrible online, but you wouldn't believe how stupidly people write for school papers as well. My first college English class, I ended up in regular English instead of a more advanced one, so people got me to proofread their papers. I was always appalled at the bad grammar and spelling.

You're telling me! I was copy editor last year for my school newspaper (no one else wanted to/could do it). I almost gouged my eyes out with my own fingers because of it. This year I'm not copy editor.

[Serendipity]

First of all, thank you for posting this. (=
It's so annoying when people do that, I'd like to correct them every time so it sticks in their brain. Like 'Your welcome.' oeursjdxlcvkdsf. >=O Haha. I guess I'm not the only one who gets bugged by that.

[Mistress Bags]

Hahaha, and the worst part about it was how ignorant they were! They would read my papers and ask why mine got the 100, and I swear, it took every ounce of patience I had not to ask why they were bothering with college.

[*Kathleen*]

Hahaha, and the worst part about it was how ignorant they were! They would read my papers and ask why mine got the 100, and I swear, it took every ounce of patience I had not to ask why they were bothering with college.

And here I was hoping it would get better next year. *Cries* That is.. if I make it to college.

[*mona lisa*]

My last year English teacher handed out an essay written by a University student my class and I had to analyze. The essay discussed how many students were having trouble with even the simplest grammar principles. This was a 3rd year Economics class! And so, we had to write a one paragraph response on how whether or not it is important for them to learn proper English even if their major isn't English or literature. And, of course, it is.

My teacher also said that he knew a woman (I forgot who she works for and what exactly she does) but she has to read tons of papers/letters/resumes and throws away those with even the slightest error. Imagine the horror if you let one slip. So, lesson of the day (ever day), always use proper spelling, punctuation, and grammar. I, myself, have trouble with grammar.

[Mistress Bags]

Oh, man. There was this guy who was interested in me a year ago. He was 22-years-old, he had been in college for four years, and he typed worse than a child. Not only did he mix up words, spell nearly everything incorrectly, and have poor grammar, but his sentence structure was so... simple and childish. I wouldn't be suprised if he had copied the sentence structure from Dr. Seuss books.

I don't enjoy being cruel, but how can people possibly be that stupid? You SPEAK in English everyday. It isn't a difficult concept to grasp.

[*Kathleen*]

Yeah.. I've turned quite a few guys down just for that as well.

[Mistress Bags]

I turned down any guy I met for that. *shrug*