Post by NeoFriend1721 on Sept 9, 2004 17:38:49 GMT -5
[glow=blue,7,300]Contractions
A contraction is when you take two short words and run them together into a more compact, concise, easier to say, phrase. For instance: I'm, Don't, You're, Aren't. Those are some of the most common.
This is a very simple rule that some of you seem to get incorrect, or you seem to ignore entirely. In quests, it's atrocious, in Off-Topic stuff, it just leads to confusion and ambiguity. Such misunderstandings can lead to arguments or other quarrels or qualms that the Mods and Admins (That's us) then have to deal with. So that said, let's get started.
The rule of thumb in the English Language is this:
When removing a letter, or consecutive (side-by-side) series of letters from a word, you replace them with an apostrophe ( ' ), to denote the removal. This is done so people know you weren't (were not) making a spelling error while trying to say something entirely different. So the word "cause", when being used to shorten "because", should actually be " 'cause". Why, do you ask? Because you removed the consecutive letters "b" and "e", so you replace them with an apostrophe to show that. 'Cause if you don't, it could lead people to think that you said "Cause" like "Join our cause!" (aka - Join our group / movement to change or defeat something!)
That's (that is) how things lead to ambiguity (vauge-ness, or ambiguous, unclear).
I'll run through a few examples for you:
Do Not = Don't
What you've done here is run Do and Not together, and removed the second "o", now according to the previously stated rule, you must put an apostrophe where the "o" once was. So it comes out being Don't.
Is Not = Isn't
What you've done here is run Is and Not together, and removed the "o", now according to the rule, you replace it with an apostrophe ( ' ). So it becomes Isn't.
There are other, more simple examples.
That Is = That's
(That's ALWAYS has an apostrophy. Whenever you say "That's", you're ALWAYS saying "That is". ie - That's his toy. or... That is his toy. See?)
You've run That and Is together. So you must remove the "i" and replace it with an apostrophe.
Now for a much-confused set of words:
Your
You're
This is a problem easily fixed if you stop and look at what you're (you are) saying.
Your is posessive. "That's your ball," or, "Is your room clean?" (Eww, I hate that question )
Many of you do this:
"Your an idiot!"
That's basically saying: "The idiot you have is an idiot!" It's pretty dumb.
What you should be doing is this: "You're an idiot!"
Look! See the apostrophe? ( ' ) It's in You're. That's a Contraction.
What two words are being run together? You and Are. So you remove the "a" and replace it with an apostrophe and push the words together. You + Are = You're.
And before I finish, I'm going to leave you with two small little side notes:
The letter that is removed from the second word in a Contraction is always a vowel. Remember that!
You use apostrophes for Contractions, but you don't for plurals. "Dogs" means "More than one Dog" while "Dog's Toy" means "The toy belongs to the dog."
Apostrophes are used for contractions and posessives. Contractions can get much more wild than the examples I used, though. Stuff like y'know is a contraction. You and Know. Fu'k, that's not a contraction, but it's where a letter is missing, and so you must put an apostrophe there.[/glow]
A contraction is when you take two short words and run them together into a more compact, concise, easier to say, phrase. For instance: I'm, Don't, You're, Aren't. Those are some of the most common.
This is a very simple rule that some of you seem to get incorrect, or you seem to ignore entirely. In quests, it's atrocious, in Off-Topic stuff, it just leads to confusion and ambiguity. Such misunderstandings can lead to arguments or other quarrels or qualms that the Mods and Admins (That's us) then have to deal with. So that said, let's get started.
The rule of thumb in the English Language is this:
When removing a letter, or consecutive (side-by-side) series of letters from a word, you replace them with an apostrophe ( ' ), to denote the removal. This is done so people know you weren't (were not) making a spelling error while trying to say something entirely different. So the word "cause", when being used to shorten "because", should actually be " 'cause". Why, do you ask? Because you removed the consecutive letters "b" and "e", so you replace them with an apostrophe to show that. 'Cause if you don't, it could lead people to think that you said "Cause" like "Join our cause!" (aka - Join our group / movement to change or defeat something!)
That's (that is) how things lead to ambiguity (vauge-ness, or ambiguous, unclear).
I'll run through a few examples for you:
Do Not = Don't
What you've done here is run Do and Not together, and removed the second "o", now according to the previously stated rule, you must put an apostrophe where the "o" once was. So it comes out being Don't.
Is Not = Isn't
What you've done here is run Is and Not together, and removed the "o", now according to the rule, you replace it with an apostrophe ( ' ). So it becomes Isn't.
There are other, more simple examples.
That Is = That's
(That's ALWAYS has an apostrophy. Whenever you say "That's", you're ALWAYS saying "That is". ie - That's his toy. or... That is his toy. See?)
You've run That and Is together. So you must remove the "i" and replace it with an apostrophe.
Now for a much-confused set of words:
Your
You're
This is a problem easily fixed if you stop and look at what you're (you are) saying.
Your is posessive. "That's your ball," or, "Is your room clean?" (Eww, I hate that question )
Many of you do this:
"Your an idiot!"
That's basically saying: "The idiot you have is an idiot!" It's pretty dumb.
What you should be doing is this: "You're an idiot!"
Look! See the apostrophe? ( ' ) It's in You're. That's a Contraction.
What two words are being run together? You and Are. So you remove the "a" and replace it with an apostrophe and push the words together. You + Are = You're.
And before I finish, I'm going to leave you with two small little side notes:
The letter that is removed from the second word in a Contraction is always a vowel. Remember that!
You use apostrophes for Contractions, but you don't for plurals. "Dogs" means "More than one Dog" while "Dog's Toy" means "The toy belongs to the dog."
Apostrophes are used for contractions and posessives. Contractions can get much more wild than the examples I used, though. Stuff like y'know is a contraction. You and Know. Fu'k, that's not a contraction, but it's where a letter is missing, and so you must put an apostrophe there.[/glow]