Grammar ~21 min of the core left

Write without mistakes

After this lesson you can

I can write without the mistakes that you can't hear but can see on paper.

Start the lesson Core 19–21 min · steps: 6 · optional: +2

Declared core time. Two of the core blocks carry no figure at all, so the real lesson is longer than this sum.

Grammar

5 min

Three groups of words sound the same and mean different things. You can't tell them apart by ear — only in writing.

your belonging to you Is this your bag?
you're you are You're late.
their belonging to them Their house is big.
they're they are They're at home.
there in that place; there is There is a shop there.
its belonging to it (a thing, an animal) The cat drank its milk.
it's it is / it has It's raining.

There is one rule to check: open up the apostrophe. If you get you are, they are, it is — you write it with an apostrophe. If not — without one.

In English the apostrophe does exactly two things:

it replaces a missing letter it's = it is, don't = do not
it shows who something belongs to Anna's bag, my father's car

There is NO apostrophe in the plural: ✗ two book's → ✓ two books.

The comma — three cases you need straight away:

a list I bought bread, milk and eggs.
a clause at the front If it rains, I'll stay at home.
speaking to someone Thanks, Anna.

There is no comma before that after think or say: I think that it's good.

Advertisement

Common learner errors

written for your language
1

An apostrophe in the plural

✗ two book's

✓ two books

Dutch writes some plurals with an apostrophe (auto's, foto's), and learners of every language add one at random — most often where it isn't needed.

2

its and it's the wrong way round

✗ Its raining → ✓ It's raining. ✗ The cat drank it's milk → ✓ its milk. The trap is that the possessive its has NO apostrophe — unlike Anna's.

3

A comma before that

✗ I think, that it's good

✓ I think that it's good

German always puts a comma before dass, Polish and Czech before że and že; English puts none before this that.

4

Days and languages with a small letter

✗ It's on tuesday

✗ an english book

✓ on Tuesday

an English book. Spanish, French and Italian write days, months and languages with a small letter (martes, mardi, inglés); English always uses a capital letter.

Pronunciation

3 min

These pairs sound the same, and that is the main thing to know about them:

your = you're /jɔː/ or /jʊə/
their = they're = there /ðeə/
its = it's /ɪts/

So you can't catch the mistake by ear — only by reading what you have written. Read your text again, opening up every apostrophe.

Advertisement

Text

3 min

Hi Anna, Thanks for your message. You're right about the meeting — it's on Tuesday, not Monday. Their office is near the station, and there is a café next to it. I think that we should meet at nine. If you're late, call me. See you, Paulo

Reading aloud

Exercises

8–10 min

1. Gap fill.

  1. Is this bag?
  2. late again
  3. Thanks for message
Show the answers
your, You're, your.

2. Gap fill.

  1. office is near the station
  2. at home now
  3. is a café here
Show the answers
Their, They're, There.

3. Gap fill.

  1. raining
  2. The cat drank milk
  3. been a long day
Show the answers
It's, its, It's.

4. Error correction.

  1. I bought two book's.
  2. I think, that it's good.
  3. Its raining today.
Show the answers
I bought two books. / I think that it's good. / It's raining today.
Advertisement

Summary

Covered

  • three groups of words that sound the same
  • the apostrophe rule
  • three cases for the comma
  • no comma before that

Next — lesson 34: your life story.

End of the core

The lesson counts as done once the exercises are done. Everything after this is optional.

Lesson 70

optional

Vocabulary for your deck

12 words
  • spelling /ˈspelɪŋ/ the way you write a word with the right letters
  • apostrophe /əˈpɒstrəfi/ the mark ' (it's, Anna's)
  • comma /ˈkɒmə/ the mark , in a sentence
  • full stop /fʊl ˈstɒp/ the mark . at the end of a sentence
  • capital letter /ˈkæpɪtl ˈletə/ a big letter: A, B, C
  • sentence /ˈsentəns/ a group of words with a full stop at the end
  • meeting /ˈmiːtɪŋ/ a time when people meet; a talk at work with colleagues
  • Tuesday /ˈtjuːzdeɪ/ the day after Monday
  • check /tʃek/ to look again to see that something is right
  • correct /kəˈrekt/ right, without mistakes
  • mean /miːn/ to have as its sense (What does this word mean?)
  • same /seɪm/ not different; exactly like another

Writing

Copy this out without mistakes: hi anna thanks for you're message your right about the meeting its on tuesday there office is near the station i think that we should meet at nine

Answer

Hi Anna, thanks for your message. You're right about the meeting — it's on Tuesday. Their office is near the station. I think that we should meet at nine.

The draft is saved on this device
Advertisement

Practise this lesson in the other sections

Dictationbased on this lesson Write down what you hear. The check shows every word that differs, and how. Write the dictation Reading aloudbased on this lesson Read the lesson text aloud — speech recognition highlights the words it did not catch. Read the text aloud Reading and listeningA1–C1 Texts at every level with comprehension questions; the transcript opens after you answer. Try it

Got a feature idea?

Send idea
Advertisement
Advertisement