Direct comparison
Your vs you’re
"Your" is the possessive form meaning belonging to you; "you’re" is a contraction of "you are".
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Side-by-side comparison
| Dimension | Your | You’re |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A possessive determiner. | A contraction of "you are". |
| Meaning | Belonging to you. | You are. |
| Has an apostrophe? | No. | Yes — it marks the missing "a" in are. |
| The test | Expanding to "you are" breaks the sentence. | Expanding to "you are" keeps the sentence correct. |
| Example | Please submit your assignment. | You’re going to enjoy this. |
| Second example | What is your opinion? | You’re right about that. |
| Followed by | A noun (your book, your idea). | Usually a verb or adjective (you’re ready, you’re leaving). |
| Grammar class | Possessive form of the pronoun "you". | Pronoun + verb collapsed into one word. |
| Common error | Writing "your welcome" instead of you are welcome. | Writing "you’re car" instead of your car. |
One test settles it every time
Whenever you hesitate between your and you’re, expand the contraction in your head to "you are". "You are notes" is nonsense, so the right word is the possessive your: "your notes". "You are welcome" makes perfect sense, so the right word is you’re: "you’re welcome". The reason the words sound identical is that they are homophones, but they do completely different grammatical jobs. Your is a possessive determiner that sits in front of a noun and shows ownership; you’re is simply you and are squeezed together, with the apostrophe holding the place of the dropped letter. Possessive determiners — your, his, her, its, our, their — never take an apostrophe.
Common questions
FAQ
Is it "your welcome" or "you’re welcome"?+
It is "you’re welcome", short for "you are welcome". The phrase is a polite response meaning you are welcome to my help, so it needs the contraction you’re. "Your welcome" would mean a welcome belonging to you, which is not the intended meaning.
How can I quickly tell your from you’re?+
Try reading the sentence with "you are" in place of the word. If it still makes sense, use you’re with an apostrophe. If it does not, use your. Because you’re always unpacks to "you are", this test never fails.
Why do your and you’re sound the same?+
They are homophones — words that sound alike but differ in spelling and meaning. In speech the unstressed contraction you’re and the possessive your are pronounced almost identically, which is why the distinction only matters in writing, where the apostrophe signals the contraction.
Going deeper
