Quirks of English

--for those who speak English as their second language or who just want to improve their writing

(Text-only version of Quirks of English)

To Use Its or It's--
That Is the Question

Conversational English is usually more colloquial and belongs with informal written English, such as that used in dialogue for plays and stories. Other writers must write more formally than they speak, which is the source of the confusion about its and it's. Its is a possessive pronoun and it's is a contraction. Here is a simple solution: do not use contractions in reports, presentations, journal articles, and other formal documents. Following this solution requires that you recognize which is which, so read on.

Possessive Pronouns

Possessive nouns and proper nouns (such as the principal investigator's role, the two organizations' decision, Peterson's research, NASA's strategic plan, and Choi's formulation) use an apostrophe. However, singular and plural possessive pronouns, which correspond to the personal pronouns in parentheses, NEVER use an apostrophe:

Examples

• I told them that the book was mine.
• Even though everyone was required to take notes, she gave hers to the people who forgot their pens.
• We insisted that ours were the only valid passes for the concert.

Contractions

Contractions consist of two words combined with an apostrophe. The apostrophe takes the place of an unstressed syllable that has been dropped from one of the words. The following examples describe two categories of contractions:

Words that consist of a personal pronoun (I, you, he, they) and a verb form (is, are, will), the beginning of which has been replaced by the apostrophe. Examples are it's for "it is," she's for "she is," they're for "they are," you're for "you are," and he'll for "he will." The apostrophe replaces the missing letters, so NEVER put the apostrophe at the end of these words.

Words that consist of the verbs has, were, do, will, is, and the word not (with the "o" replaced by an apostrophe), such as hasn't for "has not," weren't for "were not," don't for "do not," won't for "will not," and isn't for "is not"

Check your writing. Can you replace it's with "it is"? If not, use the possessive form (its) without the apostrophe.

Test yourself.

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Last updated: 1/20/2009