Errors involving word pairs in which the only difference in spelling is an apostrophe occur quite frequently. Perhaps the most common of these involves its and it’s.
Given the great similarity in spelling and no distinction in pronunciation, it’s little wonder. It’s also sad, really, since knowing how to distinguish between them is very easy.
Its is a possessive personal pronoun. It’s is a contraction for it is.
And because it’s a contraction, there is a very easy way to know when to use it. Just replace the contraction with the expanded form. If it works, the contraction is appropriate. If not, you should use the word without the apostrophe.
Take the example in the cropped image for instance. If you replace the word underlined in red with the expansion for the contraction, does the sentence make sense?
Given the great similarity in spelling and no distinction in pronunciation, it’s little wonder. It’s also sad, really, since knowing how to distinguish between them is very easy.
Its is a possessive personal pronoun. It’s is a contraction for it is.
And because it’s a contraction, there is a very easy way to know when to use it. Just replace the contraction with the expanded form. If it works, the contraction is appropriate. If not, you should use the word without the apostrophe.
Take the example in the cropped image for instance. If you replace the word underlined in red with the expansion for the contraction, does the sentence make sense?
The database contains information about failure incidents occurring from 1978 to 2013 within the United States and it is territories and possessions.
That is clearly not right. So the word used in the example (its, the one without the apostrophe) is the correct word to use.
When you remember this simple device, it’s easy to know when to use its and when to use it’s.
When you remember this simple device, it’s easy to know when to use its and when to use it’s.
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