Writing Tips: Your / You're

1. Don’t confuse “your” and “you’re.” “Your” is a possessive pronoun: your books, your wand, your power. “You’re” is a contraction for “you are.”

If you aren’t sure which one to use, try reading your “you’re/your” as “you are.” If it doesn’t make sense, chances are the word you want is “your.”

The error I see most often is the use of the possessive in place of the contraction: “Your going to the store.” That is an incomplete sentence without a verb, and the “your” is referring to the going—it’s a going which belongs to you.

Try “You’re going to the store.” That has everything you need--you are going to the store. Or consider, “You’re going to your school.” That might help you discern between the two.