Its and it's

Its and it's probably cause the most confusion in English writing and many people get it wrong.

We've covered it's as a contraction. That's fine.

However, just to be awkward, its indicates possession. Unlike other nouns we've looked at, it doesn't take an apostrophe. So:

The dog chewed its bone
The robot had lost its battery
It came down from the sky its lights blazing

Why is it its?

I'm glad you asked and I know you're dying to know...

The technical reason is that its is a possessive pronoun like his, hers, yours and ours, which have 'possession' built in so there's no need to add an s.

The easy way – honest! - to remember this is to substitute the words 'it is' or 'it has' where you want to use it's. If it makes sense use it's otherwise it's its.

That was a good sentence! 😎

Just, hopefully, to cement this idea, here are the three earlier examples where we've tried to use 'it is' instead:

The dog and it is bone
The robot had lost it is battery
It came down from the sky it is lights blazing

And they don't make sense so you know it's its.

And it's that simple. I hope 😊

Next we'll look at words that sound the same but are spelled differently.



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Triblu Premium
Thank YOU for this helpful tutorial Ian!

Leaving comments on a post riddled with errors is not what I want to be doing either... so, I truly hope a LOT of members take heed of your advice.
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YanFellow Premium
Thank you, Trish.

You've obviously seen some of the sights (Puns R Us) I've seen :-)

I am full of admiration for the people for whom English is not their first language. It's mine and I still struggle with it! But many errors are made by native English speakers and it would take only a little effort to learn how to avoid the most obvious ones.
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Corann72 Premium
I sea what you are talking about! Oh correction: I see what you are talking about!
All jokes aside...
I commend you for this Post Yan!
Our communication is key to how we are perceived by others.
When Bogging, we incorporate our personal experiences,data, etc. Each backed by the information we have attained by our source(S).
Okay, so this includes our research.
Let us include the "homophones" in that research. It will only improve our writing style, not hurt it.
It just makes sense to do it that way!
I will be more aware of my word choices as I continue on my Blogging journey!! :)
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YanFellow Premium
Hi Corren. Thank you for your comments.

Yes, communication is key and the correct use of language - or as near as we can get - help us put across our message more clearly, accurately and professionally.
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accad Premium
I think English lessons should be included here in WA. Or you will continue teaching us.
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YanFellow Premium
Ha! Ha! Thank you. I think learning affiliate marketing is enough :-)

There are probably sites which teach English, and far better than I could.

It's when certain words or phrases jump out at you as being wrong that readers might question the authority of the site. I was simply trying to highligght some common mistakes and explain how to avoid them.
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accad Premium
I think the community of WA is affected by the texting style of millennials so they are hoping it is understandable. LOL
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YanFellow Premium
I cn d txt spk - y jst lv t th cnsnnts
:-)
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accad Premium
Oh! that is too much too difficult to understand and I don't want to put meaning into it, I might be wrong. That's how we send messages today.
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YanFellow Premium
I got it wrong!
It says: I can do text speak - you just leave out the consonants

Of coure, you leave out the vowels :-)

In 20 years time the younger generation won't know what a vowel is :-)

OED RIP
:-)
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accad Premium
Maybe that is nearer to Greek language with missing vowels.
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YanFellow Premium
It's ALL Greek to me...
:-)
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Chrissies Premium
Good points well made!
My own particular bugbears are "potato's" or even" potatoe's", and "could of" etc!! And also "different to" instead of "different from"! :)
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YanFellow Premium
Ha! Ha!

Thanks, Chrissie. Yes, there are loads of examples.

Maybe we should start a group called Pedants R Us? :-)
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Chrissies Premium
Love it Ian!! :)
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YanFellow Premium
The WA Gramatical Society?

The acronym has a certain je ne sais quoi! :-)
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SAnswer Premium
Thanks for the insight
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YanFellow Premium
Thanks for taking the time to read it, Sylvia.
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