A Simple Guide to Its and It's

It's or Its?

One of the most common errors I come across when reviewing is an incorrect usage of its or it's. This is easily explained: it's one of the daftest rules in grammar.

Most people learn, right back when they are small children, that if something belongs to something, you put an apostrophe before the s, and if there are more than one of them the apostrophe goes after the s. For example:

The dog's slobber
The boy's wet trousers
The mother's anger
The laundrette workers' glee

Unfortunately, English grammar has never pretended to be simple. There is an exception to every rule (something else everyone learns when they are small!) and in this case, the exception to the rule is its and it's.

Its: The Possesive Form

Just to be awkward, when something belongs to it, it doesn't get an apostrophe. Therefore:

Its favourite chew-toy
Its messiest state
Its most expensive wash cycle

So the rule is: if something belongs to it, there's no apostrophe. Ever.

It's: The Contracted Form

No one writes without contractions of some kind: it's quicker to miss out letters (as anyone who texts teenagers regularly will know) and when we do this, we use an apostrophe to show where the letters should be.

This isn't always the case: nobody writes 'phone (telephone) or 'bus (omnibus) any more. However, it is still the case for it's (it is).

It's easier to write pram than perambulator.
It's not hard to spell pram!
It's sometimes hard to remember where to put the apostrophe.

So the rule is: if what you're saying is really two words squashed together, the apostrophe goes where the letters have been taken from. It's sort of a fair exchange.

Good luck with learning and remembering these rules: it's easy to use the apostrophe when its uses are explained clearly!