Your vs You’re (What’s the difference)

When to use Your or You’re

Your

We use Your when we want to say that an object belongs to the other person. Your is a possessive adjective. So think about when you say “This is my pen”. When you want to say that the pen belongs to the person you are talking to you say. “This is your pen”. Your is always followed by a noun or a gerund.

You’re

You’re is the contraction of you + are. This is the second person of the verb “to be”. We often use the verb to be with adjectives ”You’re tired”. We also use the verb “to be” in the present continuous. You’re reading. We shorten you are to you’re because it is easier and faster to say “You’re tired” than “You are tired”

Examples of sentences (Your vs You’re) 

Your

I don’t like your coat

Is that your boat?

I really love your new haircut.

Are they your sunglasses. No, they are his!

I love your work, You are a great artist.

Your house is bigger than my house.

Your dog is so nice. I love him.

I think your new car is amazing. It must be very expensive.

Your eyes are beautiful.

Remember! All of these sentences explain that the object belongs to the other person.

You’re

You’re always talking about football.

You’re a lit lazy this summer!

I like the fact that you’re improving your English.

You’re beautiful.

You’re the difference between the teams.

You’re so great at tennis.

You’re drinking too much.

You’re talking too much.

I don’t know what you’re doing.

You’re doing it all wrong. Let me help you.

Confusing examples of your and you’re with explanations

This topic is confusing because the pronunciation of your and you’re is the same. 

The most confusing examples are when you use the ing form (gerund). Let’s look at some examples.

You’re cooking tonight In this example we use the present continuous in the future to say that the person is going to prepare the food.

We use the present continuous for things happening now and plans in the future. Find out more in my English verb tenses course.

Your cooking is the best in the world In this example we treat “cooking” as something that belongs to the other person. We are not talking about cooking now or later. In this case, the ing works similar to a noun. Another example of this “Swimming is good for you”. We are talking about swimming in general. 

Think about the difference between Your and you’re in these example sentences.

Your joking around is going to cause you problems in the future.

You’re joking, right? Messi is the best player in the world.

Your listening skills are weak. You need to improve.

You’re not listening to me!

You’r

You’r is not correct and should never be used. 

Your welcome or you’re welcome?

Well, what do you think? A good tip is to think about if it is possible to use “You are welcome”. In this case, it is possible so the correct answer is you’re welcome. (There are some exceptions to this when “welcome” is used as a noun! eg” Your welcome mat is very nice!” )

Just remember 

You are = You’re 

Your = possession