Revised as of 22 Feb 2024
Yeah, this is kind of the reverse of what you would normally expect of a possessive, but hey, it’s (it is, really) the English language. Exceptions abound.
Okay, I’m not pointing anyone out, and I’ve run into too many word confusions for it’s as well as finding it on just about any website that addresses words that get confused. So, I’m gonna say, there is a trick to contractions of any sort.
The Trick is . . .
| Follow the Steps | It’s | Its |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Remove the s and the apostrophe if it has one | It’s a slam dunk. | Its a slam dunk. |
| 2. Replace the letter(s) the contraction is placeholding | It is a slam dunk. | It a slam dunk. |
| 3. Does it make sense? | Yes | Well, maybe in dialect . . . so, no. |
| 4. If it simply reads as if someone were speaking formally, then it’s (it is) okay to use the contraction | ||
| 5. If it doesn’t sound right, don’t use the contraction | ||
| On the One Hand . . . | . . . and On the Other |
|---|---|
| It’s a lovely night outside for a walk.
It is a nice night and we could go for an enjoyable walk. |
. . . a lovely night outside for its walk.
I don’t know what “it” is and the night could be anything. Perhaps it’s a robot that likes a dry night. Maybe it is an abominable snowman who prefers blizzardy sort of nights. Maybe it is a worm with a preference for rainy nights. Hmmm, I really can’t figure out what sort of night it is. Nor can I figure out whose?, what?, creature goes out for a walk. Well, yeah, humans and dogs like a nice night to go for a walk, but then one would replace “its” with “his” or “her”. |
| It’s Animal!
Someone is excited that a person, pet, or object is here. |
Its Animal’s!
Since “its” is possessive, whatever “it” is, it belongs to Animal. |
| Can you tell me how it’s relevant?
Tell me how it is related. |
Can you tell me how its relevant?
What exactly is “relevant” possessing? |
Exploring More . . .
You may want to explore other apostrophe-challenged posts such as “‘Cause versus Cause“, “‘Em, ‘Er, ‘Im . . .“, O vs O’ vs Oh vs Ooh“, and “‘Til vs Till vs Until“.
Word Confusions . . .
. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.
If you found this post on “It’s versus Its” interesting, consider tweeting it to your friends. Subscribe to KD Did It, if you’d like to track this post for future updates.
| It’s | Its |
|---|---|
| It’s what it is. |
Big Mouth by Hartmann Schedel (1440-1514) is in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. — Its big mouth is truly astonishing. |
| Part of Grammar: | |
| Pronoun, third person singular | Possessive Determiner, a.k.a., Possessive Pronoun |
| Contraction of it is and it has | Possessive of it |
| Examples: | |
| It’s a dog licking its paw.
It is a dog licking the paw that belongs to it. It’s the truth. It is the truth. It’s raining out there. It is raining out there. Can you tell if it’s arrived yet? Can you tell if it has arrived yet? |
The dog licked its paw.
The doll hit its noggin on the stair. Try it with ‘s, and it just doesn’t sound right as “The doll hit it is noggin on the stair”, which means its is right. |
C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!
Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.
Resources for It’s versus Its
Apple Dictionary.com
Pinterest Photo Credits
The sentence from the post, “Its and It’s”, is from Richard Nordquist courtesy of About.com while Maremma Sheepdog Relaxing in the Shade is Boden Matthews’ own work under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons, which was made transparent in Photoshop.
