Pet Peeves

[Adelina]

The "it's-its" confusion is another diabolical terror, similar to the "your-you're" conundrum, but with the opposite frequency of misuse. That is, in the former case, "it's" is usually misused as a possessive; but in the latter, "your" is usually mistaken for a verbal contraction. I've seen "it's" used incorrectly on billboards, in advertisements and articles. The error has become so common that the editors don't even seem to notice anymore, as if the wrong version is subliminally becoming the right one. To my horror, I've even caught myself making the "it's" mistake, more than once.