It’s Its Own Thing…
I was chatting with my niece the other day when she asked me for my thoughts on two often misused words: IT’S and ITS. She may be young, but the question comes up for young and old, native speakers and English language learners alike.
IT’S versus ITS
I’ll admit that in a hurry, I have written or typed one word, only to reread my writing and realize I needed to squeeze in or remove an apostrophe (‘) to make it grammatically correct. In spoken English, the two words sound the same, but if you’re not paying attention to your writing, you may easily mistake them. Let’s consider IT’S and ITS one at a time, shall we?
IT’S
IT’S is a contraction, or a shortened form of the words “it is” or “it has.” This contraction does not mean “it was,” and I’m glad— there is too much confusion with the word already! So when tempted to use IT’S, ask yourself a simple question: Can I replace the word with “it is” or “it has” and it still make sense? If so, the apostrophe is your friend and IT’S the one you want.
It’s been a long time = It has been a long time
ITS
This one is a bit trickier. Without the apostrophe, ITS shows possession, ownership, or a relationship to something else. While true that nouns often use an apostrophe to indicate possession (ex: Isaac’s hat, the car’s headlights), ITS is a possessive pronoun. By definition, it already includes the idea of possession, so it doesn’t need an apostrophe for what is already stated. For example:
In this song, since the men’s actions will be considered over time, the figurative “eyes” of history are on Washington and then Hamilton. Saying “history has its eyes on you” is easier than saying “history has history’s eyes on you,” or that “the eyes of history are upon you.”
Choosing your words
As you can see, the proper use of pronouns can make your life much easier. Using ITS can be compared to using other possessive pronouns like the words his, hers, ours, theirs, and yours. Just like you would not write “her’s,” “our’s,” or “their’s” to show possession (unless you want red squiggly lines everywhere on your spell check), the apostrophe isn’t needed because the pronoun does it on ITS own. And if you mean to use fewer words, IT’S is your best choice.
In summary, keep the apostrophe in your pocket until IT’S needed, and when ITS time arrives, you’ll know it!
Did I explain that clearly, or is it clear as mud? Let me know your thoughts or questions in the comments, and I’ll do my best to respond quickly!