Date   : Fri, 03 Feb 2006 01:28:56 +0000
From   : jgh@... (Jonathan Graham Harston)
Subject: Re: Bad grammar

"Mark Usher" <mu.list@...> wrote:
> > Or "it's" being used to mean "of it" instead of "it is"....?
> Yes, and just as unforgivable :-) It is slightly more understandable though
> due to the usual rule - apostrophe s usually equating to "of it"
 
No, it's perfectly understandable... unless you also say m'y,
you'r, hi's, he'r, ou'r and thei'r. "Its" is a possesive pronoun,
just like "his", "hers", "theirs", etc.
 
   I own  a dog. It is my    dog. It is mine.
 You own  a dog. It is your  dog. It is yours.
  He owns a dog. It is his   dog. It is his.
 She owns a dog. It is her   dog. It is hers.
  It owns a dog. It is its   dog. It is its. (It's its!)
  We own  a dog. It is our   dog. It is ours
They own  a dog. It is their dog. It is theirs.
 
> e.g. The BBC's monitor - the monitor of the BBC
> 
> But in this case, the apostrophe is actually being used to signify a
> letter(s) has being dropped.
 
No, it's indicating that it's a possesive. Or, its possesiveness,
to force an "its" into there :) Whereas in the first sentence of
this paragraph they are indicating a contraction of "it is".
 
-- 
J.G.Harston - jgh@...                - mdfs.net/User/JGH
RISC OS Choices System - http://mdfs.net/Software/RISCOS