A colleague and I have this bet, he claims it's ONE word and I say it's TWO different words.
Different dictionaries treat it differently, so we decided to leave it in the hands of Yahoo Answerers.
Thanks in advance!
:-)
2006-10-03 22:27:56 · 23 answers · asked by Andreba 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
Please vote for either ONE WORD or TWO WORDS, so that I can tally the votes and reach a conclusion..
Thanks!
:-)
2006-10-03 22:38:36 · update #1
In linguistics terms it's a clitic. A clitic is "a word that syntactically functions as a free morpheme, but phonetically appears as a bound morpheme, as it is always pronounced with the preceding or following word" (from wikipedia). Hence, phonetically it's ONE word, but syntactically TWO words.
You can treat all of the contractions in English as clitics.
2006-10-04 03:44:01 · answer #1 · answered by Earthling 7 · 6⤊ 1⤋
2
2006-10-03 22:55:33 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
You're = you are ....2 words
the "apostrophe" does NOT make it ONE word... it stays 2 words
in the case of My father's cup.... father's would be ONE word because the "aposthophe s" does not convert into any full other word....
You're.... not to confuse with your....
And the word count of MS word is certainly not a reference when you also see all the false translations found through the internet world.......
2006-10-04 00:30:10 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
It is a contraction, therefore it is two words blended to create one word. This is what I got from my childs english and grammar book.
2006-10-03 22:53:02 · answer #4 · answered by nik named mom 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's one word, *now*, but, of course, it is a compilation of two words [*you* and *are*]. The dictionary will still be the authority.
2006-10-03 22:37:32 · answer #5 · answered by smile 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You're is what was referred to in like 2nd grade as a contraction. It is the combining of 2 words separated by an apostrophe.
Hope you won!
2006-10-03 22:36:49 · answer #6 · answered by Star 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
You're is obviously one word. Do you see a space in between the two words? It is a contraction, as some of you wrote. A (singular) contraction. In one word, it expresses two. It cannot be 2 words. Any way I describe it, those of you who said that you're is two words will deny because you can't understand the complexities of language. Not that this should be complex. You should realize that it is one word with a minimal of education.
2006-10-04 05:30:38 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 4⤋
One word. Type it in MS Word, then go to: tools>word count, and it'll tell you 1 word. Thank you very much.
2006-10-03 23:10:35 · answer #8 · answered by morningstar 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's one word.
"A contraction is a word made of two words that are put together and then made shorter." Notice it says "a" word made of others.
"The ' (apostrophe) takes the place of letters that are taken out of the word." Again, 'the' word.
2006-10-03 22:38:23 · answer #9 · answered by distractionfigure 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Sorry you're wrong, it's one word.
The apostrophe replaces the missing a from are.
You are is two words (obviously)
You're is one word.
2006-10-03 22:55:56 · answer #10 · answered by Yellowstonedogs 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋