Its and It's Rule

Knowing when to use "its" and when to use "it's" is an easy decision to make once you understand the difference between the two.

Its - even though used to indicate ownership, it is the rare case in which there is no apostrophe required - eg. the dog scratched its fleas, the car blew one of its tyres

It's - the contraction of "it" + "is" - eg. It's going to be hot today, it's a shame we missed the start of the game

It is easy to become confused when both forms appear in one sentence, such as:

"If the dog keeps scratching its fleas, it's going to end up with a bald patch."

When all else fails, solve your its/it's dilemma this way - if you can break it into two parts, "it" and "is", and your sentence still makes perfect sense, then you know that "it's" is the correct form. You will know - "the dog scratched it is fleas" just doesn't work.

Practise using the its/it's rule a few times and you'll become an expert in no time!

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