it's / its

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Anja
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it's / its

Post by Anja »

I would hope I am preaching to the choir here, but I see this every day. In Facebook statuses, in memes, in FW entries, on store signs, on flyers, posters, EVERYWHERE. I have posted this before, as recently as November 2014, and so has Jan, but let's get the message out!

Its is a possessive pronoun.

The tree shed its leaves.

The confusion is because we've been taught to add an apostrophe to make a word possessive.

tree's leaves ... Dad's car ... puppy's tail

Its is already possessive, as is yours, ours, theirs, his, and hers. No apostrophes, ever.

It's is the contraction for it is and sometimes it has.

It's been three hours since sundown. It has been three hours since sundown.

It's twelve o'clock. It is twelve o'clock.
Last edited by Anja on Mon Apr 06, 2015 5:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Ann Grover Stocking

"What remains of a story after it is finished? Another story..." Eli Wiesel
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itsjoanne
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Re: it's / its

Post by itsjoanne »

These were fifth grade spelling words in my daughter's class this past week (along with their, they're, and there and a handful of other homonyms). I have to say I was generally impressed with how the class did as a whole. So, hopefully the adults of tomorrow are getting it now. :)
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