You have probably encountered confusion between your and you're in many Internet posts. Sometimes people write comments like "your so pretty in this picture" when they really mean "you're so pretty in this picture." So what's the difference? Just remember—you're (with the apostrophe) is a contraction meaning you are, but your (no apostrophe) indicates possession or ownership. Let's look at our first example in more detail:
| Error | Correction |
|---|---|
| You're so pretty in this picture. |
You can see that whoever posted this comment should have used you're (you are), not your (possessive).
- Hint:
- If you can replace the word with you are, use the apostrophe.
You're the best! ⇒ You are the best!
Now let's look at a few examples of the possessive your:
Your dog is very friendly.
In this example, the person you are talking to owns the dog.
We admire your positive attitude.
The positive attitude "belongs" to the person, even though it's not something he or she actually owns.