How to Use Its and It's

wikiHow’s team of trained editors and researchers

May 26, 2020

Like most English speakers, you probably confuse "its" with "it's" on occasion. This mistake is easy to make and easy to fix. To eliminate this tic from your writing, just remember that "it's" always means "it is" or "it has." If you get in the habit of checking your sentences for this common error, you'll soon be rid of it!

It's and Its Usage Cheat Sheet

Part 1 of 2:
Using It's and Its Correctly in Sentences

1
Use "its" to indicate possession. When the pronoun is "it," the possessive form is "its." Like the possessive determiners "hers" and "his," "its" doesn't need an apostrophe to indicate possession. Write "its" to describe something that belongs to, or is a part of, an animal, plant or inanimate object. Some example sentences may include:^{[1]XResearch source}
- My oak tree loses its leaves in autumn.
- My neighbor's cat never stays in its own yard.
- That bottle of wine is cheap, but it has its charms.
- Google needs to update its privacy policy.
2
Include an apostrophe when "it's" means "it is" or "it has." Only use the apostrophe if "it's" is a contraction of "it is" or "it has." Some sample sentences include:
- "It's a nice day"
- "It's been a nice day"
- "Let's see that movie: I hear it's amazing!"
3
Use replacement to double check. If you're reading a sentence and you're not sure if "its" or "it's" is appropriate, try replacing the word with "it is" or "it has." If you can replace the "it's" or "its" with "it is" or "it has," then you should use an apostrophe ("it's").^{[2]XResearch source}
- Take this sample sentence: "The tire had lost ___ air."
- Replace the blank with "it is" or "it has": "The tire had lost it is air." This is clearly wrong.
- Therefore, the sentence should be: "The tire had lost its air." Because the air belonged to the tire, the "its" is possessive.
- Remember, if you can't replace "it's" with "it is" or "it has," then using the apostrophe would be wrong.
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Part 2 of 2:
Practicing Using Its/It's Correctly in a Sentence

1
Look at the sample sentence. You'll need to either use "its" or "it's" in the blank. "The museum needs to update __ online schedule for summer."
2
Ask yourself if "it is" or "it has" could replace the "it's." To determine if an apostrophe should be used, ask yourself if the "it's" is indeed a short form of "it is" or "it has." If you're not sure, read the sentence aloud.^{[3]XResearch source}
- Does the phrase "it is" or "it has" fit in the sentence? The museum needs to update it is online schedule for summer. The answer, of course, is "no."
- Could you use "its" to refer to something that belongs to an inanimate object? Yes, because the online schedule belongs to the museum. The right answer is: The museum needs to update its online schedule for summer.
3
Try the same method for the following sentence. "___ hard to tell the difference between those shades of green."
- Does the phrase "it is" or "it has" fit in the sentence? It is hard to tell the difference between those shades of green.
- The phrase "it is" fits perfectly into the sentence, so you don't have to ask yourself any further questions. The correct answer is: It's hard to tell the difference between those shades of green.
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Community Q&A

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Question
When do I use "it's?"
Community Answer
"It's" is the contraction of the phrase, "It is." Where you could use "it is," you can use "it's" instead.
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Question
When do I use "it"?
Donagan
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"It" is a pronoun used to take the place of a genderless noun.
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Question
Which word is correct for the sentence, "The book about the moon is about the moon and (it's/its) phases"?
Community Answer
"Its," because "it's" is a contraction of "it is" and "its" is possessive.
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Question
Can you give an example of a sentence with "its" and "it's?"
Community Answer
It's raining hard on the city and its parks. In this sentence, "it's" can be read as "it is," and "its" is used in the second half to indicate that the parks belong to the city.
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Question
"It's my favorite mango." Is this the proper usage?
Community Answer
Yes, because the sentence retains its meaning when stretched out as "It is my favorite mango."
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Question
Isn't "it's" possessive because it shows ownership?
Community Answer
"It's" is a contraction that means "it is." "Its" shows ownership in the same way as "his," "hers," and "theirs."
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Question
With animals, is "its" used?
Donagan
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If the gender of the animal is unknown or unimportant, using "its" is fine.
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"It's" or "its" estimated delivery will be?
Donagan
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Its.
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I've always had a very hard time with English pronouns, adjectives and how to use correct English when writing. I don’t want to seem as though I can’t write correctly; what would you recommend?
Donagan
Top Answerer
See Be Good at English and related articles.
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Question
Washington state or Washington State?
Community Answer
The state of Washington officially refers to itself as "the State of Washington," even though "state" is not a proper noun. From there it's easy to adopt the spelling "Washington State." However, that can be confusing, because one of the state's major universities is known as "Washington State." Bottom line: capitalize "state" if you want to.
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Warnings

When you're typing an email or a paper, your spell checker won't necessarily catch an error between "its" and "it's." Make sure that you reread your writing carefully to catch any mistakes instead of relying on spell check.
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