According to the readers of my blog, the distinction between “it’s” and “its” is the top pet peeve and common error out in the writing world. This article attempts to explain the distinction between the two words.
“It’s” is a contraction. Most of us have heard of and are familiar with contractions. Here’s how they work:
If you want to say “Here is” and be less formal about it, squash the words together and substitute an apostrophe for the last vowel (“I”) to create “Here’s.” If you want to say “Do not” less formally, squash the words together and substitute an apostrophe for the last vowel [“o”] to create “Don’t.”
This process of contraction is how we get many words such as: can’t; doesn’t; aren’t; there’s; and (drumroll please)… it’s!
How simple is that? If you want your word to mean “it is” or “it has” then just make a contraction: it’s.
Examples:
It is time for bed. = It’s time for bed.
It is a girl! = It’s a girl!
It has been raining for days. = It’s been raining for days.
These examples seem simple enough. I think where people get flummoxed is when they want a word meaning “belonging to ‘it.’”
Why is this one confusing?
When something belongs to Harry we add an apostrophe after “Harry” and say it’s “Harry’s.” When something belongs to the barber we add an apostrophe and say it’s the “barber’s.” However, when it comes to saying something belongs to “it,” the apostrophic form goes out the window, i.e. we do NOT use an apostrophe. Something belonging to “it” is “its.”
Why is there no apostrophe in “its”?
Note there are other times we do not use an apostrophe to show possession. When something belongs to “her” we say it’s “hers.” When something belongs to “him” we say it’s “his;” when something belongs to “us” we say it’s “ours” and when something belongs to “them” we say it’s “theirs.” There are many irregular constructions here. Yet somehow most people don’t make mistakes when it comes to these other possessive forms. It’s “its” that continues to baffle us.
You might notice something in common about all the examples where apostrophes are not used to show possession: they are all a part of speech we refer to as a pronoun. Pronouns are our shortcuts so that we do not have to keep referring to people and things by their name or other descriptor. They are a referential shortcut. They replace, or substitute for, nouns.
I will write more about pronouns in a future article where I will talk about the use of “I” and “me.” For now you can look at http://www.uottawa.ca/academic/arts/writcent/hypergrammar/pronouns.html for more information. Some examples of pronouns are he, she, they, you; her, him, us; our, their, and its.
Here’s your rule to remember: When forming a possessive PRONOUN, do NOT use an apostrophe. Since “it” is a pronoun, we do NOT put an apostrophe after it to make it possessive. Just as you would not write “her’s” or “our’s,” do not write “it’s” when you are intending to show possession.
It’s my fervent hope this article has cleared up some common misperceptions and that its contents will be distributed widely by its readers!
If you or someone you know is in need of writing or editing assistance, please contact The Essay Expert .
Tags: Grammar, Writing Tips
Lordy, lordy, Brenda, why not suggest three “books.” Remember them? Strunk&White, “Elements of Style,” and of course Fowler’s “English Usage,” not to mention that weightiest of tomes “The Chicago Manual of Style.” All serious writers should own these volumes, placing them next to their Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Webster’s Geographical Dictionary, etc., etc.
Best of good English to all.
Chuck
It’s is a contaction of it is. Its is a possessive pronoun ( Wren and Martin)
I think we use it’s to say, “it is raining”.” It is a sunny day”. On the other hand, its shows possession, ” That baby has torn its clothes”. ” The horse injured its hind legs”. ( When you ask the question, whose clothes? it will answer its clothes, or whose legs? its legs.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! This is the most common error I find in our local newspaper. It finally drove me to add a page to my website with a list of grammatical errors I’ve found in published material. It absolutely drives me nuts to think that people who have supposedly graduated from journalism school and are being paid to be professionals would repeatedly make this error. It’s Grammar 101.
There was a time when parents used newspapers to help their children learn to read. But with today’s poor quality product, there is no way I would ever teach anyone to read with a newspaper. Their grammar, spelling and word usage would be all wrong. And the newspapers wonder why they’re in trouble?
Finally, someone has the courage to say it! Amazing, as you say, that some people with college degrees do not know the difference between its, it’s, theirs (I’ve seen their’s), I should have went, I should have did, I would have came… Even heard newscasters on TV say “should have went”.. Ouch!
I am French and learned the grammar in school and am really surprised to see postings, comments, ads on job postings full of grammatical errors, typos… As prospective employees, we are not allowed ANY mistakes… I have read postings by CEOs, very, very smart people with mistakes. Thank you for explaining this simple grammar rule. I am not being negative but enjoy writing well, reading well written articles and I guess, the way one writes says a lot!
We are judged by the way we present ourselves, write, speak… Nothing wrong with being a perfectionist!! Thanks again!
“Here’s your rule to remember: When forming a possessive PRONOUN, do NOT use an apostrophe. ”
Let’s not worry about that rule, shall we?
Actually, “our” and “their” are not examples of pronouns. A pronoun is something that can take the place of a noun, not qualify (modify) it. “Its” is almost never found as a possessive pronoun like “hers”, and so this is not often likely to cause a problem. It’s nearly always a possessive ADJECTIVE. Thus the comparison should not be with “hers” or “ours”, but “her” and “our”.
That’s her name. ADJ
That’s hers. PRONOUN (not *her’s)
That’s its name. ADJ
That’s its. (?) PRON (not *it’s)
I very much doubt that this is the error you were trying to address, since as I say it’s very rare to come across “its” as a pronoun. The relevant issue is with possessive ADJECTIVES.
her name
his name
its name (not *it’s name)
So you could more usefully say “you wouldn’t write ‘hi’s name’, so don’t write ‘it’s name’”. But probably better to stay away from the grammatical terminology. The fact that even a would-be “expert” is capable of getting it mixed up shows that it’s not the most helpful approach: if you’re capable of using these terms correctly, you’re probably more than capable of using “its” and “it’s” correctly.