Join In
Twitter
YouTube
Weekly Newsletter
Libraries
A-Z Grammatical Terms
A-Z Confused Words
FAQs by Writers
A-Z Awkward Plurals
Punctuation Lessons
Common Mistakes
(ordered by seriousness) ESL Vocabulary Lists Parts of Speech Lists A-Z Idioms and Proverbs Tests and Games Top Tip Install a grammar checker
for your browser
(ordered by seriousness) ESL Vocabulary Lists Parts of Speech Lists A-Z Idioms and Proverbs Tests and Games Top Tip Install a grammar checker
for your browser
You're or Your?
What Is the Difference between "You're" and "Your"?
"You're" and "your" are easy to confuse because they sound identical.- You're. "You're" is short for "you are." For example:
- You're rich now!
- Does she think you're happy?
- Your. "Your" is to show something belongs to "you" or is related to "you." For example:
- Your answer is correct.
- Your uncle has a Roman nose.

You're
"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.Example sentences with "you're":
- The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you're 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)
(This expands to "you are," so it is correct.)
- Please ask Joan to post the parcel when you're in London.
- You said that you couldn't believe you're ears.
Your
"Your" is a possessive determiner. (Other possessive determiners are "my," "your," "his," "her," "its," "our," and "their.")"Your" is used before a word one of three reasons:
(1) To show it belongs to "you."
For example:
- your car, your arm, your dog
For example:
- your picture, your photograph, your portrait
For example:
- your uncle, your mother, your sibling
- Our expert will answer your questions about pensions and savings.
- Pin your photograph to the top of the application.
- Sarah doesn't look like your sister.
A Video Summary
Here is a short video summarizing the difference between "you're" and "your":Ready for the Test?
Help Us Improve Grammar Monster
- Do you disagree with something on this page?
- Did you spot a typo?
Find Us Quicker!
- When using a search engine (e.g., Google, Bing), you will find Grammar Monster quicker if you add #gm to your search term.