Common English Mistakes: "Its" Versus "It's"

Because of insufficient time spent on writing and grammar, as well as the abundance of incorrect written English on places like internet blogs and chat rooms, there are many small written mistakes which are both frequent and simple to fix. Improving your writing allows the reader of your work to focus on your content and not get distracted by errors. No matter where your writing is being displayed or what purpose it may have (to persuade someone, to inform someone, to fulfill a writing assignment for school) it will be taken more seriously if it's not full of mistakes.

Today's issue: "its" vs. "it's"

These two simple, small words are two of the most commonly mixed up, but don't worry, there's an extremely simple way to tell them apart. Once you can do that, you will know which one to use in your writing, and you will immediately seem more credible and knowledgeable.

Its

The word "its" is a possessive. Possessives are words like "his," "her," or "your," which are used to delineate ownership of nouns. (Remember, a noun is an object, a person, place, or thing). This may sound complicated, so let's look at a few examples of possessives being used in sentences.

This is her jacket.

As you can see, the possessive in this sentence is the word "her," signifying the noun (the jacket) belongs to an unknown third party who is a female.

I don't want to do his homework.

Here, we're using the possessive "his," again referring to an unknown third person who is male. From the context, it's difficult to tell if "his homework" refers to homework which a male teacher assigned, or a fellow male student who wants the speaker to do his homework for him.

Now, let's look at an example with the word "its."

My car won't start because its engine is broken.

Notice, just as with "his" and "her," that "its" comes before a noun. In this case, the word "engine." The word "its" here tells us that the engine belongs to (or is part of) something. We know it's a thing because the word "its" is used, which refers to things, not people. So, in this sentence, the word "its" shows that the engine is part of the previously mentioned car.

Two more examples:

My DVD player stopped working--its DVD tray won't even open. I prefer this newspaper because its font isn't too small for me.

It's

The word "it's" is a contraction. We use contractions all the time in English: you're (you are), they're (they are), he's (he is), I'd (I would). Contractions combine a pronoun (I, you, we, they, he, she, it) and a verb (an action word, something you can do) to make one small word. This shortens the time it takes to speak in casual conversation.

So what does "it's" mean? The word "it's" is a contraction for it is.

Here are some examples:

Look outside, it's raining. (Look outside, it is raining). I love my bed because it's so soft. (...because it is so soft). It's frustrating to sit in traffic for an hour on your way to work. (It is frustrating...).

As you can tell, the word "it's" is used to describe things or situations.

How do you know which one to use?

Next time you're writing a sentence and you need either "its" or "it's," just take a second and substitute the phrase "it is." You'll quickly know which to use: if "it is" sounds right, use "it's"; if not, use "its."

To see how obvious this makes the difference between the two, let's use an earlier example: "My car won't start because its engine is broken" becomes "My car won't start because it is engine is broken." The second sentence is clearly wrong, which is why "its" is the appropriate choice.

Please look for my next article on common English mistakes, which will deal with the words "there," "their," and "they're."