Word Comparison Master the use of its and it’s with simple explanations and real-life sentence examples
A few months ago, I edited a software company’s help page that said, “Users typically receive a reset email within two minutes.” The support team was furious. Their real point was that the email usually arrives in two minutes, not that receiving it in two minutes is a defining trait of users. One word made … Read more
Stop Second-Guessing Yourself Picture this: you are typing a date in an important email and your fingers suddenly pause. Should it be 13rd or 13th? You glance at 3rd and think — well, 13 ends in 3, so maybe 13rd makes sense? It feels completely logical. But that logic leads you straight into one of … Read more
I have seen aardvark vs bandicoot confusion show up in more places than most people expect. One version appeared in a school wildlife report where a student used a photo of a bandicoot under the heading “African aardvark.” Another turned up in a product team draft for a zoo event page that described a bandicoot … Read more
A few months ago, I edited a school report where a student wrote that the lab notes were “very sloppy and professional.” The teacher circled it at once. The problem was not grammar. It was word choice. “Sloppy” undercut the whole sentence, even though the student clearly meant the notes looked detailed and complete. I … Read more
A few years ago, I edited a school report where a student wrote that a story character was “a fat little boy with a kind smile.” The teacher’s margin note was not about grammar. It was about tone. The student had meant “round-faced” or “slightly plump,” but the word choice made the sentence sound blunt … Read more
I once edited a client’s product page that said, “We revised the pricing on all plans this morning.” The client had not changed the pricing structure at all. They had only swapped old numbers for new ones after a sale ended. That one word made the change sound bigger, more deliberate, and more structural than … Read more
A few months ago, I edited a school website page that told parents, “Students learn their civic responsibilities, such as voting in every election and serving on a jury.” That line looked polished, but it blurred two ideas that careful writers should keep apart. Voting and jury service are often framed as civic duties. Civic … Read more
I have corrected this mix-up in more places than most writers expect. One version showed up in a school report that said, “The team added resources were useful.” Another appeared in an online store listing that promised “an added charger sold separately.” Both lines sounded awkward, but the bigger problem was trust. The first made … Read more
A SaaS client once sent me a blog draft that said the company’s “net income fell, so its core business got weaker.” That sentence looked tidy, but it was wrong. After a quick edit, I found the business had actually improved its day-to-day operations. The drop came from taxes and a one-off expense, not from … Read more