• Privacy
  • Disclaimer
  • About
  • Contact

Teaching Adults

  • Home
  • English Grammar
    • Personal Pronouns
      • I and Me
    • Verbs
      • Linking Verbs
  • Practitioners
    • Digital Literacy

It’s vs Its

December 31, 2019

Blackboard showing it's or its, together with meaning.
It’s or Its

What Is the Difference Between It’s and Its?

Choosing between it’s and its can be challenging. Many English language learners instinctively insert an apostrophe. However, it’s is a contraction meaning it is or it has. Its is a possessive pronoun and never uses an apostrophe. The easiest way to check your writing is to replace it’s with it is or it has in your sentence. If it doesn’t make sense, then you need to replace it with the word its.

It’s

It’s is a contraction. It means it is or it has.

e.g. It’s nearly time to go.

e.g. It’s definitely warmer than yesterday.

Its

Its is a possessive pronoun and is never separated by an apostrophe. In simple terms it means that it shows ownership or belonging to something.

e.g. The horse has lost its jockey. (The jockey belonged to the horse)

e.g. That saucepan is missing its lid. (The lid belongs to the saucepan)

Sources

  1. Alexander, L. G. (2004). Right Word, Wrong Word: Words and Structures Confused and Misused by Learners of English. Essex: Longman.
  2. Dowling, D. (2011). Wrong word dictionary: 2,500 Most Commonly Confused Words. Oak Park, IL: Marion Street Press.
  3. Straus, J., Stern, T., & Kaufman, L. (2014). The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation: An Easy-to-Use Guide with Clear Rules, Real-World Examples, and Reproducible Quizzes. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass A Wiley Brand.

Filed Under: Confused Words Tagged With: its, its or its, its vs its

Recent Posts

  • Stationary vs Stationery
  • Their vs There vs They’re
  • Accept vs Except
  • It’s vs Its
  • What Are Contractions?
  • Who’s vs Whose
  • Affect vs Effect
  • Wether vs Weather vs Whether

Compensation Disclosure

Teaching Adults is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

This means that compensation may be received for some or all of the products reviewed on this site. This does not affect the price you pay for any qualifying goods and services you may purchase.

Accuracy Disclosure

There is no guarantee that the Site Owner has directly tested any of the products included on this site. However, research has been conducted into the alleged results of other users who claim to have used the products. To this extent, the accuracy of both the publisher's research and alleged user results cannot be guaranteed.

Disclaimer

Please note that this site is not intended for use as a source of professional, psychological or medical advice but is provided solely for informational purposes. Readers are advised to seek the services of competent professionals in these fields, if so required. Further information can be found at: Site Disclaimer     
Copyright ©     Teaching Adults UK - All Rights Reserved
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.OKPrivacy policy