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”:
It’s is the contraction of two words, either “it is” or “it has”:
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
(In this sentence, the flavor belonged to the food, so the possessive “its” is called for.)
(In this sentence, the words “it” and “is” are combined to make a contraction.)
(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.
Wrong: This example shows possession and should be “its.”
Wrong: This example shows possession and should be “its.”
Right: This example shows possession and is correct.
Right: This example shows a contraction of the words “it is” and is correct.
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!