Doomkid Posted May 30, 2021 (edited) I'm a native English speaker, but the arbitrary, nonsensical rules of English make my shit curl.. Why in the name of fuck can't "it's" be used as a possessive? Throughout all of English, adding an apostrophe and an S either shows possession, or is a contraction of "<word> is (or has)". For some reason, when it comes to the word "it", that's thrown out the window and now it's magically only valid as a contraction. "It's" means "it is" exclusively, so the sentence "every dog has it's day" is not valid, even though "every dog's day" is valid. Whatever dumbfuck decided that rule is a real asshole, you know that?? I'm going to continue to use "it's" as a possessive even though I know it's "wrong". Because it shouldn't be wrong. "Every dog has it's day" SHOULD be valid, goddamnit, and there is no argument that will convince me otherwise, because applying different rules to "it" than basically every other word in the dictionary is just inherently nonsensical. It's gibberish. The rules are so inconsistent. This frankenlanguage makes no goddamn sense whatsoever. Any other examples of English being a messy pot of shit you can think of off the top of your head? EDIT: I realized what a dumbfuck I am after writing this so don't feel the need to point it out to me (or do, it might be funny, who gives a damn anyway) Edited June 9, 2021 by Doomkid 30 Share this post Link to post
out_of_service Posted May 30, 2021 I defiantly agree with you! English is a complicated language. 2 Share this post Link to post
Biz! Posted May 30, 2021 I agree, the media is also stupid too. Don't forget politics. 2 Share this post Link to post
A Strange Guy Called Klaz Posted May 30, 2021 Dang, that's some serious bullshit right there. I'm not even native and my brain just went "What the fuck is this?!" when i saw this article, being from Brazil, that's basically not even an issue here, but i can see that shouldn't be a damn language ""rule"" at all. 3 Share this post Link to post
Doom_Dude Posted May 30, 2021 All the words that sound exactly the same but have different spellings / meanings drives me crazy. At least there's no grammatical genders in English. 3 Share this post Link to post
Nine Inch Heels Posted May 30, 2021 (edited) 11 minutes ago, Doomkid said: Whatever dumbfuck decided that rule is a real asshole, you know that?? I disagree... I think the rule makes a lot of sense, because if we changed "its" for "it's", we'd also need to change "his" for "he's" and "hers" for "she's" - and at that point it starts to make a lot of sense phonetically, because not only is it easier to distinguish what's been said in spoken language, it's also easier to read... 9 Share this post Link to post
Dexiaz Posted May 30, 2021 5 minutes ago, Doomkid said: Any other examples of English being a messy pot of shit you can think of off the top of your head? The English Tenses. For me, as non-english speaker with only 3 Tense (presence, preterit, futurum) with minor exceptions it's freaking hard to keep in mind all 12 variations of time being in the English language. 4 Share this post Link to post
Biz! Posted May 30, 2021 4 minutes ago, Nine Inch Heels said: and "hers" for "she's" hehehe it's "she's" 1 Share this post Link to post
Csucskos Posted May 30, 2021 There are rules in a language but it's only derived from actual use. There are many examples how a language changed throughout the years. So just keep using it's and tell your friends too and some day maybe you'll be the majority, then the rulebooks have to adjust. That's it. 1 Share this post Link to post
Biz! Posted May 30, 2021 In all seriousness, the English rules depend on the country. 1 Share this post Link to post
Doomkid Posted May 30, 2021 (edited) 15 minutes ago, Nine Inch Heels said: I disagree... I think the rule makes a lot of sense, because if we changed "its" for "it's", we'd also need to change "his" for "he's" and "hers" for "she's" - and at that point it starts to make a lot of sense phonetically, because not only is it easier to distinguish what's been said in spoken language, but it's also easier to read. This does make sense to me, but couldn't we just have an exception for "it"? I see people using "it's" as a possessive all the time anyway even though it's wrong - similarly to how English usually ends up adapting slang as actual words if they're in use for long enough, couldn't we adapt this exception for "it" into the fold? Even going from "he" to "his", the E was arbitrarily changed into an I somewhere along the way, plus there's already so many arbitrary exceptions to rules anyway - it just feels like having to re-word "I like this big house and it's clean pool" to something like "I like this big house and the clean pool that it has" is such a pointless diversion. (edit: uh, we don't have to do that, just remove the apostrophe, idiot!) We already have a million inconsistent rules as-is, it just feels so weird that when I'm using the word "it" to represent "house", I can't add an apostrophe + S to "it", even when it's representing a word where an apostrophe + S could be added. I guess it just opens the floodgates to a new batch of problems, but.. god damn, it's so frustrating having to reword every 4th sentence to avoid using "it's" as a possessive, usually making them like 5 words longer pointlessly in the process. Edited May 30, 2021 by Doomkid 2 Share this post Link to post
NoXion Posted May 30, 2021 His Hers Its He's She's It's Seems pretty consistent to me. 7 Share this post Link to post
magicsofa Posted May 30, 2021 It's = "it is" Its = possessive form of "it" It's just a punctuation difference, which loses its relevance in speech. 1 Share this post Link to post
Doomkid Posted May 30, 2021 1 minute ago, NoXion said: His Hers Its He's She's It's Seems pretty consistent to me. Consistent with one another - just not the other ~170,000 words in the language :p 0 Share this post Link to post
Dark Pulse Posted May 30, 2021 21 minutes ago, Doomkid said: Why in the name of fuck can't "it's" be used as a possessive? Throughout all of English, adding an apostrophe and an S either shows possession, or is a contraction of "<word> is". It can. It's called its. "A baby is born in its mother's womb." Also, be careful, "it's" can mean not only "it is" but also "it has." "It's been three hours and I'm still waiting." As for nonsensical English? Well, as a Buffalo native, I have to plug Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo. 6 Share this post Link to post
magicsofa Posted May 30, 2021 Just now, Dark Pulse said: As for nonsensical English? Well, as a Buffalo native, I have to plug Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo. Jim, while John had had "had", had had "had had"; "had had" had a better effect on the teacher. 0 Share this post Link to post
Dark Pulse Posted May 30, 2021 Just now, magicsofa said: Jim, while John had had "had", had had "had had"; "had had" had a better effect on the teacher. You were already beaten to that. 1 Share this post Link to post
The Lone Wolf Posted May 30, 2021 Honestly, I know enough English to explain myself. 0 Share this post Link to post
Doomkid Posted May 30, 2021 1 minute ago, Dark Pulse said: It can. It's called its. "A baby is born in its mother's womb." Oh. Right. Fucking DUH. I guess the point about having to re-word sentences is completely moot then, my mistake. Still though, it just feels weird to me on a baseline level that all words can have the apostrophe + S combo be either possessive or a contraction, but then suddenly pronouns have to be assholes and change up the rules :'( 2 Share this post Link to post
Nine Inch Heels Posted May 30, 2021 2 minutes ago, Doomkid said: This does make sense to me, but couldn't we just have an exception for "it"? I see people using "it's" as a possessive all the time anyway even though it's wrong Well, perhaps the possessive would work a lot better if it didn't come up all the time thanks to features like "autocorrect", so there may be a case to be made that "its" didn't stand the test of time without a few bruises... But who's at fault here? People who know better but employ "it's" as a catch-all solution anyway, or the people writing algorithms for autocorrect and the likes...? :P As for people using it all the time despite it being wrong... Who cares? Since when is "somebody does it too" a good argument? 6 minutes ago, Doomkid said: Even going from "he" to "his", the E was arbitrarily changed into an I somewhere along the way I mean... Was it actually arbitrary, though..? That's where I think we have a very different take... 9 minutes ago, Doomkid said: I guess it just opens the floodgates to a new batch of problems, but.. god damn, it's so frustrating having to reword every 4th sentence to avoid using "it's" as a possessive, usually making them like 5 words longer pointlessly in the process. Wait.... You mean you're full-on avoiding "it's" and "its" altogether now out of spite...? :P 1 Share this post Link to post
Endless Posted May 30, 2021 Let's not forget that pronunciation is god awful if you're not a native speaker. You pretty much have to memorize all the sounds. 3 Share this post Link to post
Dark Pulse Posted May 30, 2021 (edited) 1 minute ago, Doomkid said: Oh. Right. Fucking DUH. I guess the point about having to re-word sentences is completely moot then, my mistake. Still though, it just feels weird to me on a baseline level that all words can have the apostrophe + S combo be either possessive or a contraction, but then suddenly pronouns have to be assholes and change up the rules :'( Welcome to English, or as I like to call it, "the frothy mess left over after a wholesale all-nighter language gangbang and bukkake." 7 Share this post Link to post
magicsofa Posted May 30, 2021 5 minutes ago, Dark Pulse said: You were already beaten to that. Can I read replies? I can read replies. I'm pretty sure I can read replies. 0 Share this post Link to post
NoXion Posted May 30, 2021 It's the kind of language you get when Norman soldiers try to pick up Saxon girls. 2 Share this post Link to post
roadworx Posted May 30, 2021 english is fucky as all shit but i do have to agree with the people saying that it's/its isn't all that bad 0 Share this post Link to post
MFG38 Posted May 30, 2021 I guess the following could qualify as a stupidity of the English language to a degree: If a Man-Bat dressed up as Bat-Man dressed up as Bat-Man dressed up as Man-Bat, would it be Man-Bat-Bat-Man-Bat-Man-Man-Bat or Bat-Man-Man-Bat-Man-Bat-Bat-Man? Copyright: Yours Truly, © 2020. Unauthorized reuse forbidden. 2 Share this post Link to post
Doomkid Posted May 30, 2021 2 minutes ago, Nine Inch Heels said: As for people using it all the time despite it being wrong... Who cares? Since when is "somebody does it too" a good argument? You're right. It's not a good argument at all. Still though, there's a bit of a precedent that "wrong becomes right" in English if the thing that's wrong gets used often enough. I agree that doesn't make it a good argument by any means, though. I mean... Was it actually arbitrary, though..? That's where I think we have a very different take... Isn't "hes" (as opposed to his) only silly sounding because we're not used to it? Or is there a different rationale you're using? Wait.... You mean you're full-on avoiding "it's" and "its" altogether now out of spite...? :P ROFL, no, that was me being a complete moron and forgetting that "its" as a possessive is still perfectly valid for a couple minutes.. 1 Share this post Link to post
roadworx Posted May 30, 2021 hey how bout we talk about how stupid the i before e except after c "rule" is most inconsistent shit ever 5 Share this post Link to post
Steveb1000 Posted May 30, 2021 (edited) the apostrophe is used to indicate possession or a missing word of any kind, not just a missing part of 'is'. For example, the apostrophe is used for 'should've' where it indicates the missing 'ha' in 'have'. English isn't complex compared to other languages, but it is very irregular, when it comes to spelling, pronunciation, and more. 1 Share this post Link to post