It’s vs Its

It can be difficult for students and those learning to speak english to understand the difference between it’s and its. K12 Reader will outline this with useful examples and tools to help learners become more confident and distinguishing the two.

Its is the possessive form of “it”:

The car lost its wheel.

It’s is the contraction of two words, either “it is” or “it has”:

It’s a shame that the words are so similar.

When to Use Its vs It’s

The word its is the possessive form of the pronoun it, and it is generally used to show ownership (for example, you would use “the dog wagged its tail” to show that the tail belongs to the dog).

The word it’s is a contraction that stands in for “it is” or “it has” and is generally used to shorten a phrase (for example, in the sentence “It is a windy day,” the contraction “it’s” can be used in place of “it is”: “It’s a windy day”).

Examples of It’s vs Its

It’s vs Its Example 1. The food had lost its flavor.

(In this sentence, the flavor belonged to the food, so the possessive “its” is called for.)

It’s vs Its Example 2. It’s clear that this book is going to be very meaningful to me.

(In this sentence, the words “it” and “is” are combined to make a contraction.)

It’s vs Its Example 3. It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?

(In this sentence, the words “it” and “has” are combined to make a contraction.)

How to Remember the Difference between It’s vs Its

Since apostrophes often indicate possessives in other circumstances, it can be hard to memorize the exception represented by “it’s vs its”!

An easy way to remember the difference is to try replacing the “its/it’s” in question with “it is.” If the phrase or sentence still makes sense, then you know that you can use “it’s.” If the sentence doesn’t make sense with “it is” as a replacement, then you know you should use “its” instead.

Theory Into Practice: It’s vs Its

Is the underlined word the correct version it’s vs its? See if you can tell.

The bicycle nearly slipped it’s chain.

Wrong: This example shows possession and should be “its.”

That silver has entirely lost it’s shine.

Wrong: This example shows possession and should be “its.”

High wind speeds caused that tower to sway on its base.

Right: This example shows possession and is correct.

It’s not always possible to fall asleep quickly.

Right: This example shows a contraction of the words “it is” and is correct.

It’s been easier for me to learn a language when I am with native speakers.

Right: This example shows a contraction of the words “it has” and is correct.

Bring these examples into the classroom and download other worksheets covering other important grammatical rules and literary devices to improve your student’s writing!