Its (without an apostrophe) is the possessive of the pronoun โitโ. You will also come across โitโsโ (with an apostrophe). This is a contraction of โit isโ or โit hasโ. Because they are pronounced the same but have different meanings, we call these words homophones. These words are often confused โ even by native English speakers. So, how do we tell the difference between them? In this IELTS Grammar 101, weโll give you some tips on telling them apart.
Difference between its and itโs
Synonyms of its and itโs
Use its and itโs in a sentence
Its or it's: the difference
Its
Is a determiner: A modifying word that determines the kind of reference a noun or noun group has, for example a, the, every.
Itโs
A contraction: The process of shortening a word by combination or abbreviation.
Its or it's: the definitions
Its
Belonging to or associated with a thing previously mentioned or easily identified
Belonging to or associated with a child or unspecified sex.
Itโs
Contraction of โIt isโ or โIt hasโ
Its or it's: the synonyms
Its
Could also mean (synonyms): Owned, hers, his, theirs, yours
Itโs
Does not have any synonyms
Its or it's: in a sentence
Its
I loved the cut of the dress but had issues with its colour.
In the dead of the night, all we could hear was its footsteps.
The television didn't fit its stand.
The laptop is too big for its case.
The company issued a statement about its new policy.
Itโs
Itโs so cold in Melbourne.
Choose what you want but itโs all the same in my opinion.
I hope itโs not too difficult for you.
Itโs been almost a week of waiting.
Itโs nice to know that my work is recognised.
Want to learn more about commonly confused words?
In written English, it is important to know the correct spelling of a word you want to use. You donโt want to write โweakโ when you mean โweekโ even though they sound the same. In spoken English, spelling is less important, but pronunciation is. Think about the word โleadโ, which can be pronounced as โledโ or โleed.โ Because these words cause a lot of confusion, itโs well worth spending a few minutes to understand the difference: homophones vs homographs vs homonyms. Read more here.
People often use elude when they mean allude, or write allude when they should really write elude. There are other commonly confused words too: Do you know the difference between belief or believe? That is the question in another article where we explain the difference between these two commonly misused words. Read it here.
