in reply to Improved instructions

FYI, "it's" is short for "it is" (update: and "it has") while "its" is the possessive form of "it". I believe it's the only word with that kind of apostrophe behavior -- literally the exception that proves the rule! (^_^)

Update: The exception I was referring to is that only "it" has the contraction to go along with it (unlike yours, his, hers, ours, its, theirs, and whose).

Elda Taluta; Sarks Sark; Ark Arks

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Re^2: Improved instructions
by tchrist (Pilgrim) on May 11, 2011 at 23:35 UTC
    Most personal pronouns take a final ‑s to indicate possession: only the first‐ and second‐person singular forms are exempt. All have the ‑s, and, because they are personal, do not take an apostrophe to indicate possession.

    The word its can be a personal pronoun (in the genitive case — but not in the nominative or objective cases) or a personal adjective. Both indicate possession, but the former is a substantive and the latter is not. Personal pronouns and personal adjectives never take an apostrophe to indicate possession.

    • The personal pronouns in the genitive/possessive case are mine, thine, his, hers, its, ours, yours, and theirs.
    • The personal adjectives are my, thy, his, her, its, our, your, and their.

    The relative pronoun whose nominative case is who and whose objective case is whom has a genitive case of whose.

    The impersonal pronoun one, not being a personal pronoun, takes an apostrophe to form one’s. The corresponding impersonal adjective is identical in form to the impersonal pronoun just mentioned: one’s.

[reply]

      Now that is our true tchrist!

      btw... A while ago you wrote an article on why certain words should be spelled (e.g.) "occurrence" rather than "occurance", but I can't find it now. Is it still available?

      I reckon we are the only monastery ever to have a dungeon stuffed with 16,000 zombies.
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Re^2: Improved instructions
by John M. Dlugosz (Monsignor) on May 12, 2011 at 06:10 UTC
    Not at all! qw/his hers its/ are all of the same kind but for different genders. None of them have an apostrophe and all end in 's'.

    Nouns take /'s/ to become possessive. Pronouns have built-in possessive meaning if they are possessive pronouns, and none take an /'s/ to become possessive.

    You are confused because /it/ and /its/ have similar spellings, in contrast to /him/ and /his/ and other such pairs. But /it/ is a pronoun, not a noun.

[reply]
      Yep, you're right!! Need to get more sleep!! See OP for an update.

      Elda Taluta; Sarks Sark; Ark Arks
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Re^2: Improved instructions
by Your Mother (Archbishop) on May 11, 2011 at 19:18 UTC

    Whose rules and who's making them?

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Re^2: Improved instructions
by jdporter (Paladin) on May 12, 2011 at 13:33 UTC
    literally the exception that proves the rule! (^_^)

    No, not literally, because exceptions don't prove rules.

    I reckon we are the only monastery ever to have a dungeon stuffed with 16,000 zombies.
[reply]
      Of course it doesn't in the formal sense. Doesn't mean it's not fun to use it in the less formal sense. Lighten up a little bit!
      (idiomatic) The rare occurrence of a counterexample to a rule, used to underscore that the rule exists

      See also Exception_that_proves_the_rule#Loose_rhetorical_sense

      Elda Taluta; Sarks Sark; Ark Arks
[reply]

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