Hello, fabulous online wisdom seekers!

Once upon a time, in elementary school (you’ll have to pardon me, I don’t remember in which grade), we were taught about contractions (i.e., when you take two words of a phrase and turn them into one word). For example, instead of saying “It is Wednesday,” you would say “it’s Wednesday.”

However, it seems that unless a person is an avid reader (and thus seeing words spelled out regularly), it’s easy to forget some of these elementary lessons. A few years ago, it wouldn’t have been noticeable. But today, ah, today we’re all on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and whichever other social media sites millennials are coming up with; which means everyone’s writing online messages and we get to see who has kept reading after they graduated, and who hasn’t.

Now, I’m not here to knock non-readers. Whatever you decide to do with your life, that’s on you. That being said, regardless of which category you fall into, you want to make sure to always give the right impression. Maybe you think your friends don’t care; but trust me: a lot of us notice. And in addition to people in your social circle, universities and potential employers notice as well.

But Fairy Godwriter, you say, I’ve already graduated and I already have a job. Darling, life has many turns and surprises, and we should always strive to be our best, so that when an opportunity arises, we can shine amongst the sea of mediocrity that tends to be the common denominator in those who don’t seek to improve themselves.

So, in hopes of making this world a better place, I’m writing this post to once and for all explain how easy it is to remember the difference between your and you’re.

“Your” refers to possession

When something belongs to someone, and you’re pointing it out, you write: “Hey Lindsay, I really like your handbag!” or “Your books remind me that I should be reading more!”

“You’re” is a contraction of “you are”

(For a refresher on contractions, please refer to the first paragraph of this blog). So if you mean to tell someone “You are beautiful,” you would write: “You’re beautiful.” Writing “your beautiful” is not acceptable, my friends. If you’ve done it, dust yourself off, forgive yourself, and show the world how brilliant you are because you are willing to accept past mistakes, fix them, and move forward with a better writing style, to boot!

That’s all for today my dearest readers. Thank you very much for your attention. You may now carry on with your day.

Much love,

The Fairy Godwriter