Page 3 | Is it a thing to use His instead of He's?

boringbelle · 2025-02-23T09:28:57+00:00

I'm noticing that many posts online are using His when they mean 'he's'. I thought it was a typo at first, but seeing it so often I wonder if people don't know that it's incorrect and are spelling out 'he's' as they say it. But what I've also noticed is that no one seems to correct it like they do with other grammatical inaccuracies such as 'Your' instead of ' So AIBU to care, as I find it so annoying, especially as I think it's a new error that's creeping in?

Crumpleton · 23/02/2025 10:51

Some things are not typo's.

"Have bin looking for" instead of "been" used to rackle my bones but having seen it written so much now I'm beginning to think it's a me problem.

SiobhanSharpe · 23/02/2025 10:49

Salade · 23/02/2025 09:39

Yes it’s about accent. I used to teach in East London and ‘his’ and ‘he’s’ was a common error as it is pronounced the same. Doesn’t happen where I now teach in Wales!

Surely in East London "his" and "he's" are pronounced 'is' and 'e's.
(and a someone born is East London, Dalston to be exact, it's really more like 'is' and 'ees'.
eg " 'ee talks terrible and 'is accent's bad but 'ees a lovely bloke really."
Seeing it written down in mockney shows how confusing it can be...

LittleBearPad · 23/02/2025 10:48

Someone will be along to tell us to reign it in soon

CrystalSingerFan · 23/02/2025 10:48

@JudgeBread

"...I've had to accept a lot of linguistic quirks"

Like what you did there.

Downtoearthandsinksthesun · 23/02/2025 10:47

He put he’s socks in he’s draws.

Drives me insane.

Cheeseburger27 · 23/02/2025 10:47

Wildflowers99 · 23/02/2025 10:18

Don’t even get me started on ‘we was’

Same, can’t stand it! It’s everywhere on MN last year or so 🤯

Berlinlover · 23/02/2025 10:46

The majority of people on Mumsnet can’t tell the difference between lose and loose.

IzzyHandsIsMySpiritAnimal · 23/02/2025 10:46

It shows a lack of understanding of basic language.
'His' when it should be 'he's' (and vice versa) alongside their/there/they're conflation. The lack of distinguishing between were and where, past and passed, and affect and effect.
I'm not talking about people with dyslexia (and those of my friends who are dyslexic are sticklers for checking they have the right word), but people who are just too lazy or disinterested to think that it is important to communicate clearly.
In informal discussions it's irrelevant, but in any business related communication, it is important to get it right. I once had to explain to the "higj up" secretary (who was transcribing a letter from the MD's dictaphone) that it is "should have" and not "should of".

WhatTheFuckIsThisNow · 23/02/2025 10:46

bungobungobungo · 23/02/2025 10:27

Slither for sliver is something I hear a lot said by people in all walks of life. Recent post on my local Facebook was someone who lived in a "coldly sack" (cul de sac).

Nothing will ever beat 'rest bite' but 'coldy sack' is brilliant.

Someone I know insists that 'in particular'/'particularly' is 'imparticular' or 'imparticuly'.

LittleBearPad · 23/02/2025 10:45

Newrumpus · 23/02/2025 09:37

In my accent ‘his’ is pronounced ‘he’s’ as in ‘that’s one of he’s favourites’. I think that possibly leads to confusion when writing as the 2 words sound exactly the same when in most accents there is a clear distinction.

‘that’s one of he’s favourites’

makes no sense. What are you saying.

WhatTheFuckIsThisNow · 23/02/2025 10:42

MegTheForgetfulCat · 23/02/2025 09:35

Yanbu and I've seen them switched both ways. Another one that annoys me is when people write "been" instead of "being"

Or 'seen' instead of 'saw', eg "I seen him yesterday".

'Been' instead of 'being', too - "I was been friendly".

BrightOrangeDahlias · 23/02/2025 10:40

It's the same people who use "prolly" instead of "probably"; that one's been sneaking in more and more recently. I can't work out if it's ironic usage or they genuinely think that's how it's spelt.

Coercivecontrol · 23/02/2025 10:38

Abhannmor · 23/02/2025 09:30

I see it the other way around..He's being used for His.

Yes I have a relative that does this and for some reason it irritates the hell out of me !!!

MegTheForgetfulCat · 23/02/2025 10:37

Whippetlovely · 23/02/2025 09:58

Yabu. I'm terrible at spelling myself. This is a message forum so it's not like a legal document. It really doesn't matter. My middle class friend likes to point out my spelling mistakes on WhatsApp it's become a running joke. Working class people would never do this, it is a snobbery thing. My poor spelling has not held me back in life. I have much more important things to worry about.

It's not a middle class/working class thing 🙄 Or are you suggesting that working class people can't spell? Your friend pointing out your mistakes isn't doing it because she's middle class, she's just being a bit of an arse (and there are plenty of those among all walks of life).

CaptainMyCaptain · 23/02/2025 10:33

maudelovesharold · 23/02/2025 10:27

I often use ‘Am’ instead of ‘I’m’ as a contraction of ‘I am’, when messaging, e.g. before meeting someone - ‘Am at the back of the store’ or to excuse not replying sooner - ‘Am in the middle of doing supper’. I think that’s ok?

Show quote history

It's not OK . It should be I'm.

Digdongdoo · 23/02/2025 10:32

maudelovesharold · 23/02/2025 10:27

I often use ‘Am’ instead of ‘I’m’ as a contraction of ‘I am’, when messaging, e.g. before meeting someone - ‘Am at the back of the store’ or to excuse not replying sooner - ‘Am in the middle of doing supper’. I think that’s ok?

Show quote history

It's bad grammar, but it doesn't really matter. I am already has a correct contraction, there's no need to use an incorrect one.

CaptainMyCaptain · 23/02/2025 10:32

SometimesCalmPerson · 23/02/2025 09:34

It’s not a thing, it’s just people that don’t know how to spell.

This.

JudgeBread · 23/02/2025 10:31

Crazycatlady79 · 23/02/2025 10:18

*its

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Yes thank you you're now the third person to point that out! It's almost as if when writing on a phone which uses an autocorrect feature it's easy to make mistakes 😁

bungobungobungo · 23/02/2025 10:27

Slither for sliver is something I hear a lot said by people in all walks of life. Recent post on my local Facebook was someone who lived in a "coldly sack" (cul de sac).

maudelovesharold · 23/02/2025 10:27

Digdongdoo · 23/02/2025 09:39

My DH does this all the time. Also "am" instead of "I'm". Drives me mad, but it's because English is not his first language and he is spelling phonetically.

I often use ‘Am’ instead of ‘I’m’ as a contraction of ‘I am’, when messaging, e.g. before meeting someone - ‘Am at the back of the store’ or to excuse not replying sooner - ‘Am in the middle of doing supper’. I think that’s ok?

TheFunSponge · 23/02/2025 10:26

Are when they mean our, e.g. they took are plates!
Aswell, infront, incase, abit.

ParrotParty · 23/02/2025 10:26

PersephoneSmith · 23/02/2025 09:50

Seen is my personal bugbear, [shudder]
‘I’ll get the drinks seen as you bought the last ones’
urgh
Also, ‘I was led in bed’

I'd think that one could just accent based though. They're saying seeing as quickly and it sounds like seen as with dropping the g slightly? If I was speaking quickly it would easily sound like seen

bungobungobungo · 23/02/2025 10:21

Salade · 23/02/2025 09:39

Yes it’s about accent. I used to teach in East London and ‘his’ and ‘he’s’ was a common error as it is pronounced the same. Doesn’t happen where I now teach in Wales!

Yes I'd agree that this is very much a SE England quirk. Used to grate on me but I've got used to it now.

Mydadsbirthday · 23/02/2025 10:19

Strawberryfruitcorner · 23/02/2025 10:07

Some of the comments on here make people sound so sheltered and the criticising of intelligence makes me cringe.

As if people can’t honestly understand why someone would pronounce or write something differently.

Or why a menu in a restaurant might have a mistake on one line and not the other.

Fun fact - not everyone in the UK speaks and writes perfect English and there are multiple reasons for that. If you’re all so smart, look them up.

Edited

It's not "differently" like having a different accent. It's just plain wrong and does the writer a disservice. They're actually letting themselves down.

Crazycatlady79 · 23/02/2025 10:18

JudgeBread · 23/02/2025 09:35

I've not seen this one much, but I've heard it spoken both ways around so I assume it's just one of those little linguistic quirks that works it's way into the written language.

As a hardened pedant who also loves the internet and also loves language and etymology, I've had to accept a lot of linguistic quirks that have worked their way into written language. If I corrected every one I saw I'd never do anything else.

*its