A little spelling hint

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by lumpynose

Yeah, and I'll bet you're a Brit. The English language is in your blood. Over here in the US we've got a little of Irish, Italian, Swedish, Zulu, Latin American, etc. all mixed together. And we don't have the pride in the English language the way you Brits do; for us it's more just a tool and not so much a part of our culture.

i was born and raised in the U.S., and I can honestly say that I haven't had to stop and think about possessive pronouns since middle-school. I have way more difficulty knowing when to use a semicolon than I do keeping it's/its, or there/their/they're straight. I'm not saying I never commit a typo, but I don't need to stop and think about what the correct usage is. It's ingrained. No memory aid or trick other than memorization was required for me to "get it." *shrug*

[wodin]

I just remember that it's a contraction of it is, and its an anomaly to confuse me.
Or maybe it's an anomaly to confuse me.

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I don’t know where “over here” is, but in all seriousness I’d expect any competent English teacher to ensure that their students learned that rule at an early stage of their study of the English language, whether it’s being taught as a first or a foreign language.

Unfortunately Harry, the USA has a lousy public education system, especially for a 1st world country and a superpower. Some states are worse than others. I think in Texas where I grew up and still live we have one of the worst education systems in the country. The last time I checked it was rated 43 out of 50! Private schools are much better of course, but most people cannot afford a private education. They are more interested in sports than academics, and it has come around to bite us in the backside...

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by Dylrob

( on the plus side, at least we have a slightly easier spelling system )

Except for the French words that made it into the English language thanks to the Battle of Hastings. It seems like the French just arbitrarily string together a bunch of letters then invent interesting ways to pronounce them! Latin and German words are pretty easy to spell even after being anglicized, but French words, not so much.