Your vs You're
Your is a possessive determiner meaning 'belonging to you': 'Is this your bag?' You're is a contraction of 'you are': 'You're late.' Expand the word to 'you are', if the sentence still makes sense, write you're; if it doesn't, write your.
The rule
Your vs you're at a glance
Your
You're
- Function
- Possessive determiner, belonging to you
- Contraction of 'you are'
- Apostrophe
- Never has an apostrophe
- Always has an apostrophe
- Expansion test
- Cannot expand to 'you are'
- Expands cleanly to 'you are'
- Followed by
- A noun: your name, your flight, your opinion
- An adjective, verb-ing, or past participle: you're right, you're joking, you're invited
- Example
- Your flight leaves at six.
- You're going to miss your flight.
- Memory trick
- Your patterns like my/his/her, no apostrophe
- You're = you are, expand it to check
Which one do I need?
Your or you're?
Every answer at a glance
you're
You're is short for 'you are'; the apostrophe marks the missing letter. Formal essays usually write 'you are' in full.
If you're applying for a student visa, start the process early.
your
Your means 'belonging to you', like my and his, and has no apostrophe. It comes before a noun: your passport, your opinion.
Please bring your passport and two photos to the interview.
your
Something belongs to the person you are talking to, so you need the possessive your, which never takes an apostrophe.
I really liked your idea of starting the talk with a question.
you're
Nothing owned follows, so the word means 'you are', usually before an adjective or an -ing form: you're right, you're joking.
You're right that the deadline has moved to Friday.
How to use your vs you're
What's the difference between your and you're?
Your, without an apostrophe, is a possessive determiner showing that something belongs to the person you're speaking to: your passport, your opinion, your turn. It always comes directly before a noun.
You're, with an apostrophe, is always short for 'you are'. If you can replace it with the two full words without changing the meaning, the apostrophe form is correct.
- Could I see your ticket, please?possession, the ticket belongs to you
- You're going to love this restaurant.= you are going to love this restaurant
- Your right about the deadline.expand: 'you are right' works → You're right
How do you test which one you need?
Say the sentence with 'you are' in place of the word in question. If it still sounds natural, write you're. If it sounds broken or nonsensical, you need the possessive your instead.
A second clue is what comes next: your is almost always followed by a noun (your idea, your car), while you're is almost always followed by an adjective or an -ing/-ed verb form (you're tired, you're improving, you're welcome).
- Your welcome, happy to help.expand: 'you are welcome' works → You're welcome
- I really like you're new haircut.expand fails ('you are new haircut') → your new haircut
- You're clearly working hard on your presentation.both forms tested correctly
Where does this mistake happen most?
The your/you're mix-up is one of the most common typing slips in English, partly because the words sound identical when spoken and partly because both feel 'personal', related to the listener. Autocorrect on phones can also silently swap one for the other.
In IELTS Writing, this slip rarely changes meaning enough to confuse an examiner, but it still counts against your accuracy score, so a final read-through specifically checking every your/you're is worth the extra thirty seconds.
- Your one of the most reliable students in the class.→ You're one of the most reliable students
- Please bring your own laptop to the workshop.
Common mistakes with your vs you're
Find what is wrong in each one, then open it to check.
1Your going to need a visa for that trip.What's wrong? Show the fix
You're going to need a visa for that trip.
This expands to 'you are going to need', so the contraction you're is required.
2Can I borrow you're charger for a minute?What's wrong? Show the fix
Can I borrow your charger for a minute?
'Charger' belongs to the listener, so the possessive your (no apostrophe) is needed.
3Your right, the meeting was rescheduled.What's wrong? Show the fix
You're right, the meeting was rescheduled.
This expands to 'you are right', so it needs the apostrophe: you're.
4I hope you're flight lands on time.What's wrong? Show the fix
I hope your flight lands on time.
'Flight' belongs to the listener, so the possessive your is correct, not the contraction you're.
Practise
Write your own
Write a sentence that uses your or you're, about you, your studies or your town.
Your vs You're in IELTS
Speaking
- Contractions like you're are natural and expected in Speaking: 'You're right, that's a good point' sounds far more fluent than always saying 'you are'.
- Use your confidently when referring to the examiner's question or a shared topic: 'In your country, is this common too?', a phrase examiners themselves often use.
Writing
- Formal Task 1 and Task 2 writing avoids contractions, so you're should almost never appear in your essay; write 'you are' in full if that meaning is genuinely needed.
- Before submitting, scan for every your and you're separately: read each one aloud with 'you are' substituted, if it doesn't make sense, it should be your.