Choosing between its and it’s
About this video
David and Paige explain the difference between it's and its. It's (with an apostrophe) is a contraction of "it is" or "it has". Its (no apostrophe) is a possessive pronoun, like his, her or their, showing that something belongs to "it".
You'll be able to
- explain that it's means "it is" or "it has".
- explain that its is a possessive pronoun with no apostrophe.
- choose its or it's correctly in a sentence.
Key words
- contraction
- Two words shortened into one with an apostrophe, like it's for it is.
- possessive pronoun
- A pronoun that shows ownership, like his, her, their, our or its; it never uses an apostrophe.
- its
- Belonging to it, as in "the steak's flavor" becoming "its flavor".
Transcript
- [Voiceover] Hello, grammarians, and, hello, Paige.
- [Voiceover] Hi, David. - [Voiceover] So, what are we working on today?
- [Voiceover] So, today we're gonna talk about the difference between it's and its.
- [Voiceover] Oh, oh, that sounds real tricky.
- [Voiceover] Yeah, but we'll be okay. - [Voiceover] Okay. So, it's, with an apos-- So, we have these two forms in English and they mean very different things. So, let's go though them really quick. So, it's with an apostrophe is a contraction, right? What is it a contraction of?
- [Voiceover] It is or it has. - [Voiceover] As in, it's a lovely day outside. Or, for it has, like it's been, it has been one week since you looked at cheese.
- [Voiceover] (laughing) Sad, it's been a sad week.
- [Voiceover] It's been a sad week. As opposed to its. Can you walk me through its.
- [Voiceover] So, its is a possessive pronoun. And it's a little confusing 'cause possessive usually uses an apostrophe, too. But possessive pronouns don't use apostrophes. So, you would say something like, I like rib-eye steak because of its rich flavor.
- [Voiceover] That's a pretty grody-looking steak.
- [Voiceover] (laughs) I know, pink and green is not how you want your steak to look.
- [Voiceover] So, we frankly just used its where we would use his or her or their or our. You would use its.
- [Voiceover] Right, it's just that it's not a person, so.
- [Voiceover] So, if I were asking you, can I borrow your book? That's kinda the same thing as I like rib-eye steak because of its flavor.
- [Voiceover] Right, it's showing that the flavor belongs to the steak just like the book belongs to me.
- [Voiceover] Right. So, flavor belongs to it, book belongs to you. So, this is the core distinction, is if you're talking about anything that would be about possession you use its. I-T-S, no apostrophe. If you're trying to contract something, it is or it has, like it's a lovely day outside or it's been one week since you looked at cheese.
Then you would use I-T apostrophe S 'cause it's a contraction, you're trying to cram more information into this one little phrase.
- [Voiceover] Precisely. - [Voiceover] Sweet. That's how you choose between I-T apostrophe S and I-T no apostrophe S. You can learn anything. David out.
- [Voiceover] Paige out.
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