You Are . . .

Your not going to like what I say. You might feel like pulling you’re hair out.

I am assuming you know what is wrong with those first two sentences. As a teacher, a writer, AND a regular person on social media, I see these words abused all the time.

I have a new phone (Yes, I am finally out of the dark ages. What’s next? An iPad? Flavored Cheerios?), and, any time I am typing a message like Your package came, it tries to autocorrect to You’re. The opposite is true as well. If I type You’re a nut, it autocorrects to Your.

What is this world coming to when Mr. Autocorrect is not so correct anymore? I may have to send him to his room and make him type You’re not alone with your problems one-hundred times.

I have mentioned before, I had a great English teacher in high school and college who was something of a Grammar Tyrant. He pounded proper usage into us until we wanted to cry for help. Those lessons stick with me to this day.

“Remember, you’re is a contraction for you are, while your is a possessive. When in doubt, say you are to yourself and see if it fits the sentence.”

So, if you see me mumbling to myself while I am typing, it is not senility. It is me saying you are to myself. I do the same thing with they’re, but that is a lesson for another day.

The moral of the story? Be careful with your word usage. If you already know these rules, you’re on the right track.

A final note to my readers: I appreciate you. You are great!

Carlton Hughes wears many hats. By day, he’s a professor of communication at Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College. On Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings, he does object lessons and songs with motions as Children’s Pastor of Lynch Church of God. In his “spare time,” he is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in numerous publications, including Chicken Soup for the Soul and several devotional books from Worthy Publishing—Let the Earth Rejoice, Just Breathe, So God Made a Dog, and Everyday Grace for Men. Carlton and his wife Kathy have two sons, Noah and Ethan, both of whom recently flew out of the nest. He is on the planning committee for Kentucky Christian Writers Conference and is a year-round volunteer for Operation Christmas child. He is represented by Cyle Young of Hartline Literary Agency. His book Adventures in Fatherhood, a 60-day devotional co-authored with Holland Webb, will release in April 2020 from Worthy/Ellie Claire.