Let’s continue last week’s post on homonyms. “Its” and “it’s” are two more confusing homonyms that people, even native speakers of English, commonly misuse for one another. The source of confusion is that English speakers are used to adding 's after a noun to suggest possession of something; however, this isn’t the case with “it’s.”
To put it simply:- “Its” is the possessive form of “it.” It expresses that “it” possesses, or has or owns something.
- “It’s” is the contraction form of “it is” or “it has.”
A quick check: If you can substitute the word “it is” or “it has,” the word that you should use is “it’s.”
Examples:
Its
- Its capital city was very hectic.
- I found its taste to be a bit too rich.
- I saw that movie on the night of its premiere.
- The dog spent all evening licking its paw.
It’s
- In my opinion, it’s too hot outside to run.
- It’s been a very eventful week.
- The sky looks like it’s going to rain on us!
- Do you think it’s time for us to leave?
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