How to properly use is vs it's

Question

I have a situation trying to figure it out the correct usage of it vs it's. I've watched a tutorial about this subject but not so sure how to apply the last example in my phrase.

... She is a lovely girl. Born an artist, is an individual driven by emotions. OR ... She is a lovely girl.Born an artist, it's an individual driven by emotions.

in order to be clear for me, we also have the he version:

... He is a good guy. Born an artist, is an individual driven by emotions. OR ... He is a good guy.Born an artist, it's an individual driven by emotions.

I am confused because in my case, I have comma but no conjunction words like but, end, etc. Thank you,

I think you probably mean "Born an artist, he's an individual driven by emotions." (or she's). — chasly - supports Monica, Jul 11 '15 at 08:31
True but I have already used she in previous sentence, this is a phrase. she is a lovely girl for example. After that will come Born an artist ... an individual driven by emotions. — user124853, Jul 11 '15 at 08:43
The statement "Born an artist, is an individual..." lacks a subject and is ungrammatical; "an individual" is the subject complement. It's a grammatical question, where inversion makes "an individual" the subject. — Andrew Leach, Jul 11 '15 at 08:52
Even if we have the subject in the previous sentence is still ungrammatical? — user124853, Jul 11 '15 at 09:02
You would never use it's for a live human. (And there's nothing wrong with using she twice.) — Hot Licks, Jul 11 '15 at 12:04

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 11 '15 at 12:16

As an earlier commenter said, neither of the following is grammatical unless you mean to pose a question, in which case you need a question mark. So, these would not be grammatical:

She is a lovely girl. Born an artist, is an individual driven by emotions.

OR

She is a lovely girl.Born an artist, it's an individual driven by emotions.

This would be grammatical, but doesn't seem to be what you're trying to say:

She is a lovely girl. Born an artist, is an individual driven by emotions?

Assuming that this you are making a statement, would this work for you?

She is a lovely girl. Born an artist, she is an individual driven by emotions.

The male equivalent would then be...

He is a good guy. Born an artist, he is an individual driven by emotions.

As long as it's not a problem in using he or she twice, I'l use your last and/or @chasly from UK solution. Thank you both. — user124853, Jul 11 '15 at 12:33

score 0 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 15 '20 at 07:40

Born an artist, is an individual driven by emotions.

Born an artist, it's an individual driven by emotions.

In English the verb in the main clause in any sentence must have a Subject (outside of imperative sentences). In actual fact every tensed verb in English must have a subject. This subject cannot be inferred from an earlier clause.

Sentence (1) is ungrammatical because the tensed verb in the main clause, is, has no subject. Sentence (2) is incorrect because the subject of the sentence is a woman or man (depending on whether it corresponds to the Original Poster's first or second set of examples). We don't generally use "it" for adult people in English: we need to use a feminine or masculine pronoun as appropriate. Either of the following is therefore acceptable:

Born an artist, she's an individual driven by emotions.
Born an artist, he's an individual driven by emotions.

Notice that the verb born in the subordinate clause here does not need a subject because it's not tensed and isn't the main verb in the clause.

How to properly use is vs it's

2 Answers2