It’s or Its?
Most people know that the short version of it is is spelled it’s. After all, an apostrophe replaces a missing letter, which in this case is the i in is. And we know how to spell he’s and she’s. So we write, “It’s going to rain,” not “Its going to rain,” unless we’re typing too fast and leave out the apostrophe accidentally.
But misspelling the possessive form of it is a little more common. So, when writing about something which belongs to an object, which is it: it’s or its?
Well, the answer is its, as in “He put on the raincoat and fastened its snaps.” The possessive form of it has no apostrophe.
You can just memorize that and get used to it, but to help you remember, you could keep in mind that other possessive pronouns, such as his and hers, do not have apostrophes either. No possessive pronouns do.
Michael on May 28, 2007 
Subscribe to our RSS Feed
Related Articles
- No related posts
Bookmark
Sponsors
Popular Articles
- 6 Foreign Expressions You Should Know
- The Impotence of Proofreading
- Let the Word Do the Work
- 10 Rules for Writing Numbers and Numerals
- 8 Proofreading Tips and Techniques
- 40 Yiddish Words You Should Know
- TV's War on "Me" and "I"
- 34 Writing Tips That Will Make You a Better Writer
- Gross Writing Errors on the Web
- Creative Writing 101
- Latin Words and Expressions
- Usage That Provokes “Blackboard Moments”
- 44 Resume Writing Tips
Recent Articles
- Say What You Mean
- A Novel IS Fiction
- English Grammar 101: All You Need to Know
- Short Story Competition: Sixth Batch Is Open for Voting!
- Word of the Day: Bourgeois
- The Scandinavian Connection
- Five Reasons Why Blogging Leads to Writing Jobs
- How to Address Your Elders, Your Doctor, Young Children… and Your CEO
- Short Story Competition: Fifth Batch Is Open for Voting!
- Cockney Rhyming Slang
What a good way to remember the possessive has no apostrophe, comparing to “his” and “hers”! I wish my English teachers had taught me that. It would have been very helpful.
Nice and neat explanations