The Difference Between Its and Its

The Difference Between Its and Its Before you begin to feel bad about not knowing when to use its as opposed to its, I have a confession to make. There was a time long, long ago, in a galaxy very like this one, when I didnt know the difference either! In my defense, it is really easy to get confused. Generally speaking, you would use an apostrophe for omitted letters (e.g. when you say whats instead of what is) as well as for possessives (Johns meaning that something belongs to John). To make it even more confusing, you could say Johns in the backyard, and that would be an abbreviation of John is. Both the possessive form and the contraction get the apostrophe. But there is a special rule that applies to the word it. Sometimes, youd use the apostrophe and that would be correct, and other times, it would be derisively referred to as a grocers apostrophe. Whats a Grocers Apostrophe? A grocers apostrophe is an apostrophe that is used in the wrong place. Have you ever seen signage bearing the information Bananas on special today? Thats a genuine grocers apostrophe in action. As you probably know, the plural of banana is bananas. No apostrophe is needed. You could say The bananas skin was yellow, because you are now using the possessive form. The skin belonging to the banana was yellow. Just as you may feel a little superior when you see that bananas are on special, so teachers and other nit-picky people like bosses and well me would smirk when they see an its instead of an its. Lets get into the nitty-gritty of which one to use in what circumstances. Its actually quite logical. If you remember one important fact, youll never get it wrong again. Only Use the Apostrophe for the Contraction You only use the apostrophe for the contraction of it is and sometimes, it has. Can you remember this? Then youre good to go already. In contractions, letters are omitted, and we indicate the missing letter with an apostrophe. Examples of contractions include: Its It is Whats What is Dont Do not Wont Will not Shell She will And so on, and so on. The apostrophe is used to show the word is a contraction, and in the case of the word it, its the only time youll use an apostrophe. Never Use the Apostrophe For Belonging to It Usually, youd use the apostrophe for possessives too, but not in this case. Johns scarf got tangled in Marys. The childrens toys were all broken. The cats toy is under the sofa. The business logo is very smart. Use the word it, however, and the belonging to form has no apostrophe. The cat played with its toy. Its paint is peeling. Its logo is unimaginative. How Can You Know for Sure When to Use the Apostrophe? Its easy! If you can extend its into it is or it has, then the apostrophe is completely correct. Try it with the possessive, and it obviously wont work. Another way to remember is to think about the words his or hers. Neither of these words has an apostrophe either. Its is simply the form of his or hers you would use when talking about something thats not a person. Thats because the words its, his and hers are not actually nouns. They are pronouns. That isnt to say you would never use an apostrophe with a pronoun, but it does help a little since pronouns with apostrophes showing possession are relatively rare. Using them with possessive pronouns (and its is a possessive pronoun, just like his, hers, yours, or theirs) would be redundant because the very nature of the word shows possession. Now you have the more complicated explanation, too. But dont worry about it too much. Simply remember when you refer to something belonging to an it, no apostrophe is used. Do that, and youll never make the common writing mistake of adding an apostrophe to it when its unnecessary.