It’s vs. Its

Welcome to another #WriterWarnings! Today, we’re going to cover the difference between “It’s” and “Its.” Sometimes these two are mixed up by mistake because we’re writers and we type fast. Our fingers slip and miss that key we thought we hit while writing. Others who are just beginning their writing journey might not know the difference. I started writing when I was 14 and still didn’t know the difference between “there,” “their,” and “they’re.” I do now, but it took a minute for me to grasp their differences because *ugh* the English language likes to mess with our heads. Anyway, let’s look at the differences between It’s and Its, shall we?

Its

Normally, an apostrophe shows possessiveness. For example, “Isabelle’s coffee spilled.” But “its” without that apostrophe is what’s going to show possession. An example of its within a sentence is “the cat is eating its food.”

It’s

Now, that “it’s” with the apostrophe is a contraction of “it is” or “it has.” An example of using “it’s” within a sentence is “it’s been raining for hours.” Without that contraction of “it’s,” the sentence reads as, “it has been raining for hours.”

I know that’s a super short Writer Warnings, but I see this mixed up quite a bit and wanted to share that tidbit of information. Hope it was helpful to some!

Xo,

Ashley