Its vs. it's
"Its" (no apostrophe) is the possessive form of "it," while "it's" (with apostrophe) is a contraction of "it is" or "it has." If you can replace the word with "it is," use it's; otherwise, use its.
Its and it's sound identical but do completely different jobs. Its is a possessive pronoun showing that something belongs to "it": "The company changed its logo." It's is a contraction — a shortened form of "it is" or "it has": "It's raining" means "It is raining."
The confusion is understandable: apostrophes usually signal possession ("the dog's bone"), so writers instinctively reach for it's when showing ownership. But possessive pronouns never take apostrophes — his, hers, ours, yours, theirs, and its all go without. The apostrophe in it's marks missing letters, exactly as in don't or can't, not possession.
The reliable test: expand the word to "it is" (or "it has") and reread the sentence. "The bird spread it's wings" becomes "The bird spread it is wings" — nonsense, so the correct choice is its. "Its going to snow" fails the other way: the sentence means "It is going to snow," so it needs it's. One more trap: its' is never a word in standard English.
This distinction is a staple of standardized-test English sections. The ACT English test and the SAT Reading and Writing section both include apostrophe and pronoun questions where its/it's appears among the answer choices, and the CLT tests the same conventions. Applying the "it is" substitution test takes seconds and reliably earns the point.
Key takeaways
- Its (no apostrophe) shows possession: "The team won its game."
- It's (with apostrophe) means "it is" or "it has": "It's been a long day."
- Test by substituting "it is" — if the sentence still makes sense, use it's.
- Possessive pronouns (its, hers, theirs) never take apostrophes, and "its'" is never correct.
- The ACT, SAT, and CLT all test its vs. it's in their grammar and punctuation questions.