Content

• Steps
• Warning

Surely you sometimes confuse "its" and "" "like most other English speakers. This error is easy to commit and also easy to fix. In order not to make this mistake while writing, just remember that "it is" means "it is" or "it has". If you practice this familiar error-checking routine in a sentence, you'll soon run out of confusion.

Steps

Part 1 of 2: Use “It's” and “Its” in sentences in the right way

1. 

   Use "its" to refer to ownership. When the pronoun is "it", the possessive pronoun is "its". Similar to the possessive pronouns "hers" and "his", the possessive pronoun "its" requires no apostrophes to indicate ownership. Write "its" to describe something that belongs to or is part of an inanimate animal, plant, or object. You can refer to the following examples:
   • My oak tree loses its leaves in autumn. (My oak deciduous in autumn).
   • My neighbor's cat never stays in its own yard. (The neighbor's cat never stayed in her yard.)
   • That bottle of wine is cheap, but it has its charms. (That bottle is cheap, but the flavor is very special.)
   • Google needs to update its privacy policy. (Google needs to update their privacy policy).

2. 

   
   
   Add an apostrophe when "to" means "it is" or "it has". You only use apostrophes when "it is" or "it has" is abbreviated to "it is". Some example sentences are as follows:
   • "It's a nice day" (Today was a great day).
   • "It's been a nice day" (Today was a great day).
   • "Let's see that movie: I hear amazing!" (Let's watch that movie together! I heard it's a good movie!)

3. 

   
   
   Tested by replacement. If you are reading a sentence and don't know whether to use "its" or "it's", try replacing the word with "it is" or "it has." If you can replace "it's" or "its" with "it is" or "it has", add an apostrophe ("it's").
   • See this example: "The tire had lost ___ air".
   • You will enter "it is" or "it has" in the blank: "The tire had lost it is air" (the tire has lost it is slightly). This sentence is completely wrong.
   • The correct answer would be "The tire had lost its air". Since it's the vapor in the tire, you'll use "its" to denote ownership.
   • Remember that if you cannot replace "" with "it is" or "it has", adding apostrophes is wrong.
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Part 2 of 2: Practice using “Its / It's” properly in sentences

1. 

   
   
   See example sentences. You need to enter "its" or "on" in the blanks. "The museum needs to update __ online schedule for summer" The museum needs to update the __ online schedule for summer activities.

2. 

   Think if you can replace "" with "it is" or "it has". To determine whether to add apostrophes or not, you will wonder if "" is an acronym for "it is" or "it has". If you are unsure, read the sentence aloud.
   • Is the phrase "it is" or "it has" appropriate for a sentence? The museum needs to update it is online schedule for summer (The museum needs to update it as an online schedule for the summer). The answer is definitely not".
   • Can you use "its" to refer to something that belongs to an inanimate object? Yes, because the online schedule belongs to the museum. The correct answer would be The museum needs to update its online schedule for summer (Museums need to update their online schedule for the summer).

3. 

   Try the same approach in the following sentence. "___ hard to tell the difference between those shades of green" (It is difficult to discern the difference between shades of green).
   • Is the phrase "it is" or "it has" appropriate for that sentence? It is hard to tell the difference between those shades of green (It's hard to tell the difference between the shades of green.)
   • The phrase "it is" matches that, so you don't need to ask any further questions yourself. The correct answer is It's hard to tell the difference between those shades of green (It's hard to tell the difference between the shades of green.)
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Warning

• When you're composing an email or text on your computer, it's possible that the spellchecker won't recognize a mistake between "its" and "". So, you should carefully re-read the content for errors instead of depending on a spell checker.