"Its" is a possessive pronoun like his/her/their/our/whose. "It's" is a contraction of "it is", hence the apostrophe. Any time you could grammatically say his/her/their, you should use the version without the apostrophe. Any time you could say "it is", you should use the version with.
> "It's" is a contraction for "it is". No apostrophe is needed.
No. "Its" is a possessive, which puts it in the same class as words like "his" and "hers". If it were a contraction for "it is" then you'd definitely need the apostrophe.
That's because "Tom's" is possessive in this case. The possessive form of "it" is "its" (no apostrophe). The way I remember it: if you can substitute "his" or "hers" for "its", then don't use an apostrophe.
I think OP was just being an ass, but whether the behavior is opposite really depends on your frame of reference. The lack of apostrophe is consistent with how you deal with possessive pronouns: his, her/hers, our/ours, etc. No possessive pronouns have apostrophes, with one exception. And the apostrophe is consistent with how other contractions work.
If you remember (and care) that its and it's are two separate words, then you should be able think your way through it. It's could legitimately be possessive or a contraction, but its can only be the possessive.
Anyway, I agree with you that it's tricky enough that we shouldn't be assholes about it.
Hah yea, this is a particularly nasty part of the language IMO. I was wrestling with it recently. For pronouns, the apostrophe is only to indicate a contraction. Possessive pronouns like "hers" do not use an apostrophe. So "it's" always means "it is." Where "its" always is expressing that "it" possesses something.
"Its, without an apostrophe, is the possessive of the pronoun it. It’s, with an apostrophe, is a contraction of it is or it has. If you’re not sure which spelling to use, try replacing it with it is or it has. If neither of those phrases works in its place, then its is the word you’re looking for."
You are correct, in the case of "it's" the apostrophe doesn't indicate possession, but rather a contraction of 'it is'. I think it is a confusing edge case, which English has many of.
You have written “it’s” instead of “its” on the last two occurrences of the word. It should be without the apostrophe, as it’s indicating possession. I used to get this wrong all the time too.
Thanks for the correction. You know, I was once taught, quite poorly, that the apostrophe is used for possession, and when I'm not mindful about it, my brain makes this jump that when referring to something that "belongs" to whatever "it" refers to, that it therefore possesses this thing and therefore should have an apostrophe.
If I think about writing, I write its, but when I'm thinking what I want to write and my fingers just type it, it is like a layer of execution intercepts that thought and correct it.
I guess that's just the brain and one of its features, it's nuts.
Getting back to the subject, this is one of the biggest issues, idiots who hold our data and yet don't add salts to their encryption because salt is bad for you.
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