Path: csiph.com!eternal-september.org!reader02.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail
From: Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com>
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: OT: possessive adjectives
Date: Sat, 14 Aug 2021 13:37:29 -0700
Organization: A noiseless patient Spider
Lines: 53
Message-ID: <865yw7yd86.fsf@linuxsc.com>
References: <sd6b8j$498$1@reader1.panix.com> <878s21gney.fsf@bsb.me.uk> <sd6h5j$hng$2@reader1.panix.com> <87fsw9m4qd.fsf@bsb.me.uk> <sd7ud2$hkh$1@reader1.panix.com> <sd8r8p$fph$1@dont-email.me> <sd8rra$f4o$1@reader1.panix.com> <sda3ah$l3i$1@dont-email.me> <sdbqcc$1ir3$1@gioia.aioe.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Injection-Info: reader02.eternal-september.org; posting-host="e69182db6e8a2e097c43a26c68c35bd4"; logging-data="7567"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org";	posting-account="U2FsdGVkX187XSyViH6b69B/wKsUHe8xGWq32XnBKUw="
User-Agent: Gnus/5.11 (Gnus v5.11) Emacs/22.4 (gnu/linux)
Cancel-Lock: sha1:tojrcIF5wkgwEL5Zr/kUekHj0Zc= sha1:h+juIOxovlZdTfRb79c594mJ62k=
Xref: csiph.com comp.lang.c:162377

Manfred <noname@add.invalid> writes:

> On 7/21/2021 11:24 PM, James Kuyper wrote:
>
> Sorry about the grammar nit-picking, but...
>
>> As others have pointed out, that's explicitly not the case in C,
>> and there's lots of code that relies upon that fact in order to
>> achieve it's desired effects.
>
> The expression "it's" is a contraction for "it is", and it doesn't
> make sense here.  What you mean here is "its", which is the proper
> possessive adjective to be used in this sentence.  Confusing the
> two expressions would be the same as confusing "they're" and
> "their".
>
> [...]
>
>> It's guaranteed to work by the standard, deliberately with the
>> intent of
>
> You got "it's" right here...
>
>> allowing developers to rely upon that fact, and most C programmers
>> have written code that relies upon that fact for it's successful
>> execution.
>
> ... but not here either
>
>> Incidentally, the same is true of C++ - and a gratuitous
>> incompatibly between C and C++ goes against the official policies
>> of both the C committee and the C++ committee.
>
> Sorry for patronizing, but your posts usually read fairly correct,
> so I thought this remark might not be like the proverbial drop in
> an ocean in your case - besides, I have a kind of allergy to
> non-compiling sentences (even if English is not my native
> language, and I make mistakes myself)

It may help to remember that the same rule applies to all
personal pronouns:  an apostrophe always indicates a
contraction with "am", "is" or "are" -

  I am, we are                   - I'm, we're
  you are                        - you're
  he is, she is, it is, they are - he's, she's, it's, they're

and there is never an apostrophe in the possessive form of a
personal pronoun - 

  my, our
  your
  his, hers, its, their