Its with no apostrophe, on the other hand, is the possessive word, like "his" and "her," for nouns without gender. For example, "The sun was so bright, its rays blinded me."
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Mixing up it’s and its is an extremely common mistake. In this article, we’ll explain the difference between its and it’s, provide tips about how to remember the difference, and even cover some related questions.
The difference between its and it’s comes down to function: its shows possession, while it’s is a contraction of it is or it has. Its is the possessive form of it, used to show that something belongs to or is associated with something else.
Its is a possessive form that is used to show possession or ownership, meaning the belonging of something to it. Its’ is never correct to use in your writing. Most proofreading software will flag it as a grammatical error.
Both " its" and "it's" are based on the pronoun "it," which serves as a function word or refers to a previously mentioned noun. However, "its" (without an apostrophe) is a possessive pronoun, like his or her. " It's" (with an apostrophe in front of the "s") is a contraction of "it is" or "it has."
Its is the possessive form of "it." It's (with an apostrophe) is always short for "it is" (it's so fun) or "it has" (it's been nice knowing you). But, you might ask, don't apostrophes show possession, as in "teacher's pet"? Well, yes they do, but not necessarily with pronouns.