You searched for:
“its”
its, it's
its (ITS) (pronoun)
1. A possessive pronoun: Every animal is proud of its young.
2. Used as a modifier before a noun: The airline canceled its flight to New York.
2. Used as a modifier before a noun: The airline canceled its flight to New York.
Like "his", another possessive pronoun, its never takes an apostrophe.
it's (ITS) (pronoun/verb)
A contraction of "it is" or "it has": It's [It has] been nice to meet you and it's [it is] good to know I'll see you again next month.
Since an "i" is missing, an apostrophe must be inserted to show the omission, but it is never used as a possessive.
Its is the possessive form of the pronoun it and is correctly written without an apostrophe.
This should not be confused with the contraction it's (for it is or it has), which should always be written with an apostrophe.
It's come to my attention that many people have no understanding of the difference between it's; as in, "It's going to be sunny today." and its; as in, "I put each flower in its proper place in the garden."
This entry is located in the following unit:
Confusing Words Clarified: Group I; Homonyms, Homophones, Homographs, Synonyms, Polysemes, etc. +
(page 4)