Its vs. It’s: When to Use It’s vs. Its with Useful Examples

 

Difference between Its vs. it’s. The wrong use of “its” and “it’s” is one of the most common grammatical errors that is made by both native speakers and those who are learning English as a foreign language. However, this mistake usually occurs only because of carelessness when writing because the difference between it’s vs its is pretty simple.

Its vs. It’s

• ITS is a possessive determiner that is used when we say that something belongs to something.
• IT’S is a contraction of “it is” or “it has”.

Therefore, in order to solve the “c” problem, ask yourself whether you can replace the word with “it is” or “it has”. If you can, then use “it’s” without fear. If you can’t, the version without an apostrophe would be correct.

Examples:

• This town is famous for its beautiful buildings.
• It’s (it is) impossible to defeat an ignorant man in argument.
• It’s (it has) become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity. (Albert Einstein)

When to Use It’s vs. Its

Take a look at this example: “Its/ It’s been a week since I last saw my parents”. In this case, you can say, “It has been a week since I last saw my parents”, meaning that the correct option to use is “it’s”.

What if you say, “I stopped reading this book because its/ it’s main character was annoying”? You can’t replace the word in question with “it has” or “it is”. Just to be completely sure, try rephrasing the sentence and saying, “I stopped reading this book. This book’s main character was annoying”. Now it is completely clear that here we need a word that shows possession, so “its” is what we are looking for.

In the sentence, “I don’t think its/ it’s a good idea”, “it is” fits in perfectly. It indicates that here you have a contraction, so an apostrophe is needed: “I don’t think it’s a good idea”.

Its vs. It’s Examples

• A bird is known by its note, and a man by his talk.
• The fox that had lost its tail would persuade others out of theirs.
• The cat shut its eyes while it steals cream.
• Each soul is individual and has its own merits and faults.
• The film has been shown in its entirety for the first time.
• It’s too late to shut the stable door after the horse has been stolen.
• Home is the place where, when you have to go there, it’s to take you in.
• It’s been estimated that one in eight couples is infertile.

Difference between It’s vs. Its | Picture

Its vs. It’s – When to Use Its or It’s