It’s vs. Its

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Understanding the difference between commonly confused words will help you avoid making errors in English usage. Let’s examine the difference between the following:

it’s

It’s is the contraction of it is or it has, and should always be written with an apostrophe.

It’s going to rain later today.

It’s been five years since I’ve visited Paris.
It’s raining again.

its

Its is the possessive form of it, and means belonging to or associated with something. It is correctly written without an apostrophe.

The bird is collecting twigs to build its nest.
The bird has laid three eggs in its nest.

The confusion between its and it’s arises because other possessive forms do end in apostrophe-s, such as the boy’s bike or Mary’s car. This is not true of pronouns, however. There is no apostrophe in the pronouns hers, ours, or yours, and there is none in its, either. When it ends in apostrophe-s, it indicates a contraction, not a possessive.

☛ Here’s a trick to help you make sure you’re using the right word: if you can substitute it is or it has and the sentence still makes sense, then it’s is the correct form. In the examples above, “It is going to rain” makes sense, but “build it is nest” does not. If you can substitute his for its (“build his nest”), then the form without an apostrophe is the correct one.

Another way of differentiating these words is to think of the apostrophe in it’s as standing for the missing letters of is or has that you drop when you make the contraction. With the possessive form its, think of the s being right up close to the t because it belongs to it as a possession.

Photo credits:

Photo 1: Image by Pexels from Pixabay

Photo 2: Image by Jill Wellington from Pixabay