If you are reading this and have made this mistake, take heart in the fact that even the most experienced writers can confuse between “Its” and “It’s”. These two words are only separated by a single, seemingly insignificant apostrophe, but it makes a significant difference in meaning.
What to know?
“It's” is a contraction of the words “It is” or “It has”, it’s that simple (see what I did). Without the apostrophe mark (‘), it becomes a possessive form of the pronoun. For e.g. Its color is blue.
Here’s are instances where “It’s” is a contraction of “It is”
Examples:
It’s raining today, and I am in a mood for a coffee,
The project isn’t complete. He thinks it’s a good idea waking up early to complete the rest of it.
It’s just what I was looking for, the right color and the right fit.
It’s time I made that trip to India. I have heard that it’s the most diverse country on the planet.
I have reviewed the book, and even though it’s old and worn out, it’s worth a read.
Here’s are instances where “It’s” is a contraction of “It has”
Examples:
The boss will be inspecting the report tomorrow. It’s got to be done today.
It’s to be the best and nothing else
It’s been a year since we’ve gone hiking
Karl has only been working for a year in this organization, but it’s been suggested that he could be promoted.
I don’t know how much of this is accurate, but it’s been estimated that three in five students will pass the exam.
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Here’s are instances where “Its” in its possessive form”
Examples:
The phone isn’t turning on, do I need to replace its battery?
Because of the drop in sales and heavy competition, the airline reduced its price
The laptop needs its keyboard and screen replaced.
It wasn’t an awful movie, the movie had its moments.
The machine is well over a decade old. The engineer has been called to assess its wear and tear.
What is the source of the confusion?
Most people confuse “Its vs It’s” because of the usual rule that applies to apostrophes aka Possessive Nouns. For e.g. Book’s Color vs Books for Sale. Notice here, the apostrophe in Book’s means that which belongs or is in “possession” of the book. Without the apostrophe, it is simply a Plural form of the book.
How to work around the confusion?
Earlier, we noted that "it's" is a contraction of "it is" or "it has". When in doubt, take the uncontracted form, apply it to the sentence and see if it makes sense. For instance, if you un-contract the sentence “It’s color is green”, it becomes “It is color is green”, which doesn’t make sense. So in this instance, the sentence is rewritten without the apostrophe to “Its color is green”.
A simple trick to avoid confusion is to reverse the usual source of confusion. The apostrophe indicates possession in a Noun, but in the case of "It", the opposite is true. For example, in the case of a Noun, it is “Book’s Color” and in the case of “It”, it is “It’s Cover”.