Nancy Young wrote:


> "Blinky the Shark" > wrote
>
>> Nancy Young wrote:
>>
>>
>>> "Blinky the Shark" > wrote
>>>
>>>> Nancy Young wrote:
>>>
>>>>> I have its it's issues. I can't get it that the possessive doesn't
>>>>> have an apostrophe. Why???? Heh.
>>>>
>>>> Do these *other* possessive pronouns have an apostrophe?
>>>>
>>>> hers
>>>> theirs
>>>> yours
>>>> ours
>>>>
>>>> No.
>>>>
>>>> "Its" isn't even an exception; it illustrates the *norm*.
>>>
>>> Do you say hers hats? Hers rock?
>>
>> Uh. Of course not. But thanks for playing.
>
> Okay, I'm talking about when you'd say its hat. Its foot. That's when I
> want that apostrophe in there.

Well, if you want to do it correctly, stop wanting that. That's
exactly what I was illustrating with the list I showed -- that adding an
"s" to a pronoun doesn't mean you have to insert an "apostrophe". It's no
more necessary there than when you add an "s" to make a plural. Lions and
tigers and bears identify a group of animals; "lion's and tiger's and
bear's" doesn't. We must stamp out this knee-jerk obsession for inserting
apostrophes as if they are somehow needed to warn the reader that there is
an "s" coming. Esses are not dangerous; the reader does not need to be
warned that he's about to see one.


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