336. Contractions and Possessive Pronouns – it’s and its

Last week we talked about contractions – words made from shortening two words into one.
It is can be shortened into it’s.
It is time for lunch. It’s time for lunch.

The pronoun its is a possessive pronoun when it owns something.
The cat chased its tail. The cat licked its fur.

The contraction for it is uses an apostrophe to show that the letter i has been taken out.
The word it’s with an apostrophe really means it is.
The word its without an apostrophe is a pronoun showing ownership.

The contraction it’s uses an apostrophe to show where the letter i was bumped out.
It’s actually means it is. Do not use an apostrophe in the possessive pronoun its.

  • Now you try it. Decide whether the first or second sentence needs an apostrophe in the word its. Its very cold in here. The dog buried its bone. Did you find the sentence where its means it is? Did you put an apostrophe into the word its? Good for you!