Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
But I really don't understand why you should be wrong at all. It's honestly not that hard to remember that "its" is a possessive pronoun, and "it's" is a contraction, is it? Why not just memorise it and have done with the matter?
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I have been a professional editor for more than 30 years and over those years I have noticed that every writer and editor has a spelling or grammar quirk, that is, something that they consistently and persistently get wrong. For example, I recently read an ARC from a well-respected author who has written many books. In every instance of use of
farther and
further, the author used the wrong term. The author even used a term I have seen but once before:
farthermore.
For myself, I know that I always have trouble with
compose and
comprise, so much so that I have it specially bookmarked in my usage books.
I do agree, Harry, that the more you use a term the more likely you are to use it correctly, but I also know that such a statement is true only 99% of the time. It is that annoying 1% that makes us human.
