You're or Your?

"You're" is short for "you are."

"Your" shows that something belongs to "you" or is related to "you" (e.g., your car, your father).





It's a Howler!



A mistake involving "you're" and "your" is a howler.



See our list of writing mistakes ordered by their seriousness. A mistake involving "you're" and "your" is a howler.

A Video Summary

What is the difference between "you're" and "your"?Here is a short video summarizing the difference between "Your" and "You're."

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Click on the Two Correct Sentences

(Interactive Game)

Getting ready... Getting ready... Getting ready... Getting ready... Getting ready... Getting ready... Getting ready... Getting ready... Getting ready... Getting ready...

More about "You're"

The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat. (Actress Lily Tomlin)

still a rat. (Actress Lily Tomlin) (This expands to "you are," so it is correct.) Doing nothing is very hard to do. You never know when you're finished. (Actor Leslie Nielsen)

finished. (Actor Leslie Nielsen) (Expands to "you are" – correct) Please ask Joan to post the parcel when you're in London.

in London. (Expands to "you are" – correct) You said that you couldn't believe you're ears. (This does not expand to "you are," so it is wrong. It should be "your.")

More about "Your"

your car, your arm, your dog

your picture, your photograph, your portrait

your uncle, your mother, your sibling

Our expert will answer your questions about pensions and savings.

questions about pensions and savings. (This means the questions belonging to "you.") Pin your photograph to the top of the application.

photograph to the top of the application. (This means the photograph of "you.") Sarah doesn't look like your sister. (This means related to "you.")

Avoid "You're" in Formal Writing

Yours Not Your's

Remember One of These Examples

You're only as good as your last haircut. (Author Fran Lebowitz)

only as good as last haircut. (Author Fran Lebowitz) When you're eight years old nothing is your business. (Comedian Lenny Bruce)

Interactive Exercise Here are three randomly selected questions from a larger exercise, which can be edited, printed to create an exercise worksheet, or sent via email to friends or students. Here are three randomly selected questions from a larger exercise, which can be edited, printed to create an exercise worksheet, or sent via email to friends or students.





"You're" is a contraction of "you are." It has no other uses. This is a 100% rule. If you cannot expand it to "you are" in your sentence, then it is wrong.Examples:In grammar, "your" is a possessive determiner . (Other possessive determiners are "my," "your," "his," "her," "its," "our," and "their.") The word "your" sits before another word (usually a noun or a pronoun ) to show:For example:For example:. For example:More examples:As a general rule, contractions (e.g., "you're," "isn't," "can't," "don't," "it's") are not used in formal writing. In official correspondence, the normal practice is to expand them to their full forms. If you always expand your contractions, you will never make a mistake with "you're" or "it's" (two notorious grammar villains).The word "yours" is known as an possessive pronoun (others are "ours," "his," and "hers"). There are no apostrophes in any absolute possessives. This is another 100% rule.Here are two witty examples with "your" and "you're" used correctly to help you remember how to use them: