Incorrectits

Incorrectits is a term used in linguistics and language education to describe a class of errors concerning English possessives and related punctuation. The category covers misuse of apostrophes, confusion between contractions and possessive forms, and incorrect marking of ownership in plural or irregular nouns. While not universally standardized, incorrectits is employed in analysis of learner writing and error taxonomies.

Typical patterns include confusing its and it's (for example, it's a common mistake); incorrect apostrophe placement in plural possessives (the dogs bone instead of the dogs' bone or the dog's bone depending on ownership); and erroneous overgeneralization of possessive s to irregular plurals (the childrens toys) or to pronouns (her's).

Examples illustrate common cases: "It's raining outside" is correct, whereas "Its raining outside" is incorrect; "The cat chased its tail" is correct, while "The cat chased it's tail" is incorrect; "The childrens toys" is incorrect; the correct form is "The children's toys"; "The womens club" is incorrect; the correct form is "The women's club"; "The dogs bone" is missing an apostrophe; depending on meaning, it should be "The dog's bone" (one dog) or "The dogs' bone" (multiple dogs).

Causes include language transfer from L1 possessive rules, typographical haste, influence of auto-correct features, and the perceived irregularity of English. The rise of informal digital communication has amplified the visibility of incorrectits in user-generated text.

Correction and instruction emphasize explicit instruction on possessive rules, practice with minimal pairs, proofreading strategies, and targeted feedback. Readers and editors should focus on the pronoun its, the contraction it's, and the correct marking for plural possessives; automated checkers can help but require user awareness to avoid false positives.

See also: its vs. it's, apostrophe usage, possessive case.