When It's "Its" And When It's "It's"
by Thomas M. Pender
 
Due to the fact that America was settled by people from many countries, modern American English is probably the most difficult language to master – even for modern Americans!  Two words that stump many well-schooled countrymen are “its” and “it’s.”  In fact, many people are completely unaware of the word “its” and its usage!
 
The apostrophe in the contraction “it’s” signifies missing letters.  There are only two cases in which “it’s” will be used, and these substitutions are stated in the following rule:
 
‘ = “i” or “ha”
 
In a majority of cases, the apostrophe stands for “i,” turning “it’s” into “itis,” or “it is.”  Occasionally, though, the apostrophe is a substitute for “ha,” and the “it’s” contraction becomes “ithas,” or “it has.”  Examples of this are:
 
It’s going to rain tomorrow.
If it’s possible, please come up to my office.
It’s been a hard winter for us all.
 
If you try to insert the “i” where the apostrophe appears, you’ll notice that it works in the first two sentences.  The third sentence, however, requires the “ha” substitution to become logical.
 
Another method to decide whether an “its” in your text needs an apostrophe is:
 
The possessive form of “its” never has an apostrophe.
 
Most possessive forms of nouns use an apostrophe, as in “Jack’s tie.”  This is the reason that “its” is so confusing.  But, to determine a difference between the two forms of this particular word, an apostrophe does not appear in the possessive form.  Some examples are:
 
It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it.
The skunk raised its tail, so Fran ran away.
It’s still tense between Libya and its neighbors.
 
In each example, if you substitute the letter “i” for the apostrophe in “it’s,” the sentence still makes sense.  But if you try to substitute the “i” into the word “its,” the sentence no longer makes sense.  It’s just that simple!