Your or You’re

I was reading about the most common grammar mistakes last week, and although the correct usage of “your” and “you’re” wasn’t listed, it seems to be an error I often see. So here is a quick response to that—if this is a pair of words that causes you confusion, I hope it will be helpful.

“Your” indicates possession. As with “my”, “his”, “her”, “their” and “our”.

“You’re” is a contraction of “you are”. It has an apostrophe in the middle of the word, indicting a missing letter or letters—in this case, the letter “a”.

How to decide which to use

Ask yourself the question:

• Can I write “you are” instead? If the sentence would still say what you want it to say, then “you’re” is the correct choice.
• Is this about possession—something belonging to a person? Then “your” is correct.

Examples of correct usage

• You’re not wearing that, are you?
• You’re coming with me.
• Your glass needs refilling.
• Give me your hand.
• When you’re ready, I’ll take you to your car.

 Test Yourself

1. Bring me _______ papers.
2. When do you think _______ going to be ready?
3. Is that _______ child over there?
4. Are _______ parents coming to the party?
5. If _______ buying _______ first home, _______ probably going to need a mortgage.
6. When _______ alarm clock rings, _______ meant to get out of bed.

Answers

1. your
2. you’re
3. your
4. your
5. you’re – your – you’re
6. your – you’re

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