Radhia Sweety
JF-Expert Member
- Aug 10, 2011
- 4,433
- 1,767
your- possessive pronoun (cha kwako)
you're- you are
The use of your instead of you're is a very common mistake in English. I teach my students not to abbreviate words especially when leaning the language as it tends to (how shall I put this without sounding condescending..) silly mistakes.
dont use I'm, you'll find yourself using am. use I am
we'll is also another huge no no. forget the apostrophe and you got yourself a well. tee hee
and loads more that I can't think of right now, but the bottom line is, do not shorten your words as
(a) its a very informal habit *DO NOT USE in letters, essays, journals and anything that is to be written down* (unless you're me and tend to flaunt the rules)
(b) like I said, it leads to common mistakes
An English teacher like you should always be careful not to misapply words ''flout'' and ''flaunt'' not least because they're two of the most commonly confused words in English language. To flaunt is ''to exhibit ostentatiously'' as in ''She flaunted her Mercedez Benz;'' on the other hand, to flout is ''to show contempt for'' as in ''Pupils must be reminded not to flout school regulations.'' I'm referring to (a) above where you've wrongly used ''flaunt'' in place of ''flout'' by saying ''unless you are me and tend to flaunt the rules.'' The correct sentence is ''Unless you are me and tend to flout the rules.'' ( I'm still doubtful if the sentence itself yields any sense anyway.)
I should also add that the process of shortening word or words by omitting some of the letters and introduce an apostrophe is not known as ''abbreviation'' as you've suggested; it's rather known as ''contraction'' as in ''Don't for do not'' or ''We've for we have.'' Writers are free of course to use this technique as long as the writing is informal or unofficial. However, in formal or official work, they can't enjoy the same latitude and are therefore constrained to write words in their normal lengths--as you've pointed out.