Your vs. You’re – Which One Do You Use?

In English, we have many difficult grammar and spelling rules. We have many irregular verbs, random singular and plural pairs like goose/geese and moose/moose, and we have the hated there, they’re, and their. Some of these rules confuse native English speakers, too! Today, we’ll talk about one of them: your vs. you’re. When do you use your? When do you use you’re? You’re about to find out.

Your and You’re – A Common Mistake for Native English Speakers, too!

When I was a student in middle school and early high school, I would often get my English literature class papers back with many red marks. One of the most common mistakes I made was mixing up your and you’re. In fact, many working adults who are native English speakers make this mistake in their business emails at work. Some workplaces don’t care, but some bosses and colleagues might not want to promote a worker or give them new projects if they don’t know the basics of English writing. That’s why it’s important to know.

Why do so many native English speakers and English learners make this mistake? It’s a simple explanation.

To most native English speakers, they sound exactly the same when you say them at a conversational speed; for many English speakers like me, they sound the same even when we say them slowly. I must have slept through the lesson where my English teacher taught me the difference between these two, so it took me a long time until finally an online friend taught me how to use them properly in writing. Now I will teach you how to use them properly, too!

Your – The Possessive Adjective

In English, one of the ways we show possession (who owns or has something) is by using a type of describing word called a possessive adjective. You might not know the technical name of these words, but you definitely know them. Take a look at the chart below:

Look familiar? I thought so. These are some of the most common words in the English language, and you learn them early on in your lessons. Here are some example sentences using possessive adjectives:

• My book is on the table.
• Your dog is very cute.
• She loves her brother.
• He wants to watch his favorite movie.
• That bird is taking a poop on their brand new car!

As you can see, these words are adjectives (also called describing words). They describe the noun (person, place, thing, idea, etc.) right after them. For example, we can swap the “my” in the first example sentence above with “a big” or “the big” book and have a similar sentence, e.g. “A big book is on the table.”

Your is just a possessive adjective. It is the second person singular and second person plural possessive adjective. It matches the subject pronoun (see the chart) you. Here are some examples of grammatically correct sentences that use your:

• Are you going to finish your dinner?
• Your soccer team won the game on Saturday.
• What score did you get on your test last week?
• Mr. Nguyen is your favorite teacher.
• Your voice sounds so good when you sing.

We use your when we want to show that you possess or have something. If you have a dog, the dog is your dog.

You’re – A Contraction of You and Are

Now it’s time to explain you’re. You’re is a contraction – two words that are pushed together (contracted). Contractions are very informal and aren’t usually included in business writing or formal school writing, but we write them often in things like messages with friends, informal emails, books with a conversational tone, and even this blog post! We also use them most of the time when speaking unless we’re being extra careful to sound formal.

In English, when we have a subject pronoun and certain forms of the be-verb, we often turn them into one contraction word. See the chart below for some examples:

Do you see a familiar friend? Yes! You see the contraction you’re! When making these subject pronoun + be-verb contractions, we take the pronoun, add an apostrophe (this ‘ symbol), and shorten the be-verb. I am becomes I’m, you are becomes you’re, she is becomes she’s, etc.

To see these contractions in action, let’s take a look at some example sentences:

• I’m an English teacher, and you’re an English student.
• He’s going to the mall today.
• We’re playing video games right now.
• They’re from Tunisia.
• She’s a famous talk show host.

Now that you understand that you’re is just a contraction of you are, why not take a look at some grammatically correct examples of sentences using you’re?

• You’re my best friend.
• You’re my worst enemy.
• You’re going to love this new flavor of ice cream.
• You’re new at work. Would you like some help?
• I can’t believe that you’re leaving the country tomorrow!

We use you’re when you want to shorten you are and turn it into a contraction. If your job is being a doctor, we can say, “you are a doctor” if we want to be formal or “you’re a doctor” if we want to be informal.

When Do I Use Your? When Do I Use You’re?

As you can see above, you use your, the possessive adjective, when you want to say someone in the second person (you) possesses or has something, e.g. “That is your book. This is my book.” You use you’re, the contraction, when you want to write in a casual tone and shorten you are, e.g. “You’re from Japan, and I’m from the U.S.A.”

Why not try and complete these exercises using the right word?

1. What is ____ name?
2. ____ going to work today, right?
3. That is ____ favorite food.
4. ____ joking!
5. ____ cat looks like a tiny panda.

Want to know the correct answers to the questions above? Post them in the comments, and I’ll correct your answers! If you want to improve your English even more, check out my post on the meaning of the phrase “what’s up“.