Word Choice Its vs. Its - Proofread My Papers Academic Blog

Word Choice Its vs. Its - Proofread My Papers Academic Blog Word Choice: Its vs. Its Apostrophes have a bad habit of turning up in unexpected places. Confusion between â€Å"its† and â€Å"its,† for example, is so common that, as proofreaders, we pretty much consider it our nemesis. Worry not, though! We’ve prepared this simple guide to using â€Å"its† and â€Å"it’s† correctly, so read on and you’ll soon be equipped to join our crusade against this common grammatical error. Why the Problem Occurs â€Å"Its† and â€Å"it’s† are so frequently confused because there are two situations in which we typically add an apostrophe to a word: To indicate possession (e.g., the windshield on a car is the â€Å"car’s windshield†) To indicate omitted letters in a contraction (e.g., â€Å"do not† becomes â€Å"don’t†) It would therefore make sense for something belonging to an â€Å"it† to be indicated by adding an apostrophe + â€Å"s† to the word, but in practice we only use an apostrophe for the contraction â€Å"it’s.† Why? And how do you remember this distinction? Let us explain. Its (Possessive Pronoun) The term â€Å"its† is used when referring to something owned or belonging to an â€Å"it† (typically an object or animal): With its smashed windows and chipped paintwork, the car was a wreck. Just dont ask us what we were doing when we wrecked it. [Photo: Thomas R Machnitzki]â€Å"Its† doesn’t require an apostrophe because it is a possessive pronoun, like â€Å"his,† â€Å"her† or â€Å"your† (none of which require an apostrophe to indicate possession). It’s (Contraction) â€Å"Its† is a contraction, a shortened version of two separate words with letters omitted. To be specific, â€Å"it’s† combines â€Å"it† with either â€Å"is† or â€Å"has† depending on the tense used: It is finally time! = It’s finally time! It has been a long wait! = It’s been a long wait! Like any other contraction, you must use an apostrophe to show that two words have been combined when writing â€Å"it’s.† Its or It’s? The distinction between these terms is vital for clarity, so it’s definitely worth taking a moment to remember how they should be used. Thankfully, the difference is a fairly simple one: Its = Possession Its = Contraction (either it is or it has) Thus, if you’re writing about something that belongs to an â€Å"it,† the correct term will always be â€Å"its.† Likewise, if you’re using â€Å"it’s† as a shortened version of â€Å"it is† or â€Å"it has,† you’ll always need an apostrophe. It’s also worth remembering that contractions are generally considered inappropriate in formal writing, so you should avoid terms like â€Å"its† in your college work and write â€Å"it is† in full instead.