Wonderful perspective on how English will survive the ages:

The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that the English language is as pure as a crib-house whore. It not only borrows words from other languages; it has on occasion chased other languages down dark alley-ways, clubbed them unconscious and rifled their pockets for new vocabulary.

James Nicoll (b. 1961), “The King’s English”, rec.arts.sf-lovers, 15 May 1990

French authorities scurry about looking to keep their language pure by forbidding alien terms such as “le hotdog” and “le weekend” and “le sweater”. In English, we use whatever new term or turn of phrase conveys the thought best. Consider “Pretty” (Saxon), “Bouquet” (French), “Quota” (Latin), “Algebra” (Arabic). It’s part of why we English-speakers have a ridiculously rich vocabulary, and also why English will survive.

English purists who have icebergs up their butt will rail at the progress English makes organically and make themselves obsolete… you ain’t gonna keep folks from using the terms they want to, in the way they want to — it ain’t gonna happen, no siree.

Still, there are some constructs that just aren’t right, no matter how organic you want to get.

• “It’s” vs “Its” — With an apostrophe, it’s a contraction for two words. Without the apostrophe, it represents ownership, just like his or hers. So try using “him” or “her” instead and you’ll get it right:
  • That’s its main flaw <= That’s her main flaw
  • It’s been grand <= She’s been grand
  • It’s its own worst enemy <= He’s his own worst enemy
• “You’re” vs “Your” — Here the apostrophe version is most definitely a contraction for the two words “you are”. If you can replace the contraction with those two words and the sentence still makes sense, you’ve got it right; if not, use “your” which means ir belongs to you.
  • Your house is on fire.
  • You’re almost too late. (You are almost too late)
• “They’re” vs “Their” vs “There” — the first is a contraction for “they are”, period. The second means it belongs to them. The third means it’s somewhere besides here.
  • They’re screwing it up again. (They are screwing it up again)
  • Their car is in the shop. (The car belongs to them and it’s being repaired.)
  • There is the one we were looking for. (It’s not here, it’s there.)
    For this last one, just remember you’re starting with the word “HERE” and adding another letter “T” to get somewhere else that’s not HERE — it’s THERE.