Last week, we talked about contractions that can be confused with other words.
Here are some more contractions that might be confused with other words.
we’ve and weave
We’ve is a contraction. We’ve is a shortened version of we have.
Use we’ve in a sentence when you can take the words apart and the sentence still makes sense.
We’ve been reading a good book in class.
We have been reading a good book in class.
The word weave sounds exactly the same as we’ve , but weave is not a contraction.
Weave is an action verb that means putting threads together to make cloth.
Long ago, people would weave cotton thread into cloth.
it’s and its
The word it’s is a contraction. It’s is a shortened version of it is.
Use it’s in a sentence when you can separate the word into two words – it is.
It’s raining today.
It is raining today.
The word its is a possessive pronoun. Its shows ownership.
The dog wagged its tail.
The cat licked its fur.
It’s true that we often use an apostrophe s (‘s) with nouns to show ownership: John’s dog. Mary’s cat.
However, possessive pronouns used to show ownership do not use an apostrophe: his, hers, theirs, ours, its
When you are confused by contractions that are similar to other words, try separating the contraction into two words to see if the sentence makes sense.