Grammar Genius: It's and its

Hello readers!

Today's blog is a "Grammar Genius" blog. Blogs with this title will be related to a common mistake in the grammar world. Even I make these grammar mistakes! This blog is simply reminding us all to let the grammar genius inside shine.

Today I am talking about it's and its. Phonetically, they sound the same: "itz." However, their meaning is different.

"It's" is the contraction for "it is" and "it has." Don't forget, contractions are short, quick ways of joining two words together. You can tell a word is a contraction because there is an apostrophe. An apostrophe is that little upside down comma-looking thing in the middle of the word. So, back to the word... It's means something IS/HAS.... blah, blah, blah...(insert the rest of your sentence here). The contraction is giving the state of being/past state of being to an object.

"Its" is a possessive pronoun. Remember, possessive shows ownership. So, this word is showing that something belongs to something. A pronoun takes the place of a noun. The pronoun it takes the place of objects, not people. So, "its" is showing that something belongs to an object.

If you're ever confused to place that little apostrophe or not, simply stretch the contraction out to two words. If the sentence is correct with "it is" or "it has," then you want to use the contraction "it's." If the sentence is not correct, then you want to use the possessive pronoun.

Let's practice. See if you can determine which word goes in the blank: it's or its.

1. The dog scratched _____ ears.
2. Wow! _____ hot today!
3. _____ been a long time since I've seen you!
4. The cat chased _____ tail.
5. The pencil did not have _____ eraser.
6. I would like to read that book. What is _____ title?
7. The oak tree has lost all _____ leaves.
8. We are going to Florida. _____ going to be a long drive.

Scroll down to check your thinking.....

















How did you do? Here are the answers:

1. its ~ The ears belong to the dog
2. it's ~ It is referring to the weather
3. it's ~ It has been a long time
4. its ~ The tail belongs to the cat
5. its ~ The eraser belongs to the pencil
6. its ~ The title belongs to the book
7. its ~ The leaves belong to the oak tree
8. it's ~ It is going to be a long drive

Got it now, Grammar Genius? Until next time, keep reading!