If you spend a decent amount of time on Facebook, then you may have seen some of the posts about grammar that tend to make the rounds. Often these posts are sentences that highlight a regularly misused or misunderstood word,\u00a0punctuation mark\u00a0or grammar rule. For example,<\/p>\n
“Let’s eat Grandpa! vs<\/strong> Let’s eat, Grandpa! (Commas, they save people.)”<\/em><\/p>\n So that you don’t fall into a similar trap with two words that often cause some confusion, let’s look at the difference between its<\/em> and it’s<\/em>.<\/p>\n It’s<\/em> with an\u00a0apostrophe\u00a0is the shortened form of it is<\/em>. An example sentence is, “It’s<\/em> a wonderful day in the neighbourhood.”<\/p>\n Its<\/em> without an\u00a0apostrophe\u00a0means that something belongs to it. An example is, “The car beeped its<\/em> horn.”<\/p>\n So how do you keep the two straight in your head? With these tips:<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. \u00a0Never use its’<\/p>\n 2. \u00a0Try replacing it’s\/its<\/em> with it is<\/em>. If the sentence makes sense, then you know you can use it’s<\/em>. If it doesn’t make sense then you most likely need to use its<\/em>.<\/p>\n Examples:<\/strong><\/p>\n It’s\/its<\/strong> very windy outside. –> It is<\/strong> very windy outside. –> Makes sense, so use it’s<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Every dog has it’s\/its<\/strong> day. \u00a0–> Every dog has it is<\/strong> day. –> Doesn’t make sense, so use its<\/strong>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Here are some exercises for you to practise with:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Rewrite the sentences below, choosing the right word from the brackets.<\/p>\n 1. [It’s\/its] time to give the cat [it’s\/its] dinner.<\/p>\n 2. The spacecraft fired [it’s\/its] rockets as it approached [it’s\/its] landing site.<\/p>\n 3. When [it’s\/its] likely to rain, [it’s\/its] best to take an umbrella.<\/p>\n 4. [It’s\/its] fascinating to watch the cat washing [it’s\/its] kittens.<\/p>\n 5. Before riding your bicycle, [it’s\/its] a good idea to check [it’s\/its] brakes.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n