New Word of the Day: Itse

2009 May 7
by Clay

If the letter “e” at the end of “whose” distinguishes it from its homophone “who’s,” then why don’t we have an “e” at the end of “its” to distinguish it from its homophone “it’s?”

Can anyone explain to me how that “e” in “whose” appeared in the first place? If so, why does it not also appear at the end of “its?”

One Response leave one →
  1. 2009 May 7

    The English language is full of mysteries, isn’t it? On that note, did you celebrate the birthday of Strunk & White? Nerd!

Leave a Reply

Note: You can use basic XHTML in your comments. Your email address will never be published.

Subscribe to this comment feed via RSS