Oh you know what else they never explained? (This makes me so mad)
Possessive pronouns never take an apostrophe. We all know this, right? His, hers, our, their -- not an apostrophe in the bunch. But people constantly have trouble with its vs it's --- and it's because no damn grammar school teacher explains it in the simplest possible terms -- no possessive pronoun takes an apostrophe.
Jane, Well done. I’d like to add one tip that I found helpful. If the meaning is “it is” then use the contraction “it’s” because the apostrophe takes the place of the missing letter “i” in the word “is” just as other contractions combine two words, drop a vowel, and replace it with an apostrophe, such as “do not” drops the letter “o” and becomes one word “don’t” -- to give just one example.
Agreed -- however, I don't draw that distinction because it's not 100% helpful -- "the cat's toy" never means "the cat is toy", so that contributes to folks' confusion about its and it's.
The cat's really going after the cat's toy. The first is a contraction, the second is possessive but they are both written the same way.
It's really going after its toy. The first is a contracts, the second is possessive but they are written differently.
I don’t have to tell you that English has a number of exceptions to the rule!
To my knowledge, and admittedly I’m not an expert, there isn’t the same confusion over the plural “cats” and the possessive “cat’s” — so my explanation clarifies when to use “its” or “it’s” and is intended for no other case. I could have been more clear in my post. I find tricks like this helpful but anyone who doesn’t is free to ignore it.
Valeri, I apologize for upsetting you. Let me try to be more clear in my response.
Knowing that an apostrophe denotes a contraction is helpful but does not specifically resolve the question of its vs it's, because apostrophes can, in many cases, denote possessives. Perhaps "cat" was an inapt example. Let's use Valeri instead since plural isn't at issue here, and there is only one Valeri in SoCal.
Valeri owns her home. That is Valeri's home (that is the home of Valeri). Valeri's at home now (Valeri is at home now). Accordingly, "Valeri's" could mean the possessive or a contraction.
Now let's look at the same example, using she and her rather than Valeri.
She owns her home. That is her home. She's at home now. The only place that an apostrophe appears is in the contraction. This is an example reflecting that possessive pronouns do not take apostrophes. "She's" cannot mean "her" or "hers", it can only mean "she is".
My point is that one area in which apostrophes *never* denote possessives is in respect of possessive pronouns, whereas leaning into the contraction as a rule for remembering the difference between its and it's really relies on rote memorization.
Since his, hers, their, my, our, etc., come easily to most people because they have internalized the rule, making the rule explicit will help those who rely on their intuition as to whether its or it's is correct.
My explanation is intended to help in all cases of possessive pronouns, particularly with respect to "its" vs "it's" since, of all the personal pronouns, that is the only one that people find confusing.
I hope this is helpful for you to understand my point.
Loved your explanation. You are very kind to take the time to share all of that. Seriously. Thank you. (I didn’t mean to put you to any trouble.)
I have a dear friend that I’ve known since kindergarten. We are in our early 70’s and are both native English speakers. She is very smart and we love to banter on word usage and grammar. One of her (very few) downfalls (in English usage) is when to select “it’s” or “its” -- I discovered this by accident and offered my tip to help her. She told me she has heard all the explanations, and nothing works, but she thanked me and said she relies on a post-it note (she wrote up) which she keeps by her computer to help her remember which is which. Whatever works!
Are you an editor or copy editor, by any chance? I am, so I thought I recognized a kindred spirit. Literature/English/journalism major? Just wondering...
No, although one reason I went to law school was that I thought I would find others who shared my morbid fascination with language. Law review, particularly checking blue book form, was right up my alley, lol
I am truly impressed...too bad my English teachers never explained anything so well!👏👏👏
Oh you know what else they never explained? (This makes me so mad)
Possessive pronouns never take an apostrophe. We all know this, right? His, hers, our, their -- not an apostrophe in the bunch. But people constantly have trouble with its vs it's --- and it's because no damn grammar school teacher explains it in the simplest possible terms -- no possessive pronoun takes an apostrophe.
I geek out on this stuff. 🥸
Jane, Well done. I’d like to add one tip that I found helpful. If the meaning is “it is” then use the contraction “it’s” because the apostrophe takes the place of the missing letter “i” in the word “is” just as other contractions combine two words, drop a vowel, and replace it with an apostrophe, such as “do not” drops the letter “o” and becomes one word “don’t” -- to give just one example.
Agreed -- however, I don't draw that distinction because it's not 100% helpful -- "the cat's toy" never means "the cat is toy", so that contributes to folks' confusion about its and it's.
The cat's really going after the cat's toy. The first is a contraction, the second is possessive but they are both written the same way.
It's really going after its toy. The first is a contracts, the second is possessive but they are written differently.
I don’t have to tell you that English has a number of exceptions to the rule!
To my knowledge, and admittedly I’m not an expert, there isn’t the same confusion over the plural “cats” and the possessive “cat’s” — so my explanation clarifies when to use “its” or “it’s” and is intended for no other case. I could have been more clear in my post. I find tricks like this helpful but anyone who doesn’t is free to ignore it.
Valeri, I apologize for upsetting you. Let me try to be more clear in my response.
Knowing that an apostrophe denotes a contraction is helpful but does not specifically resolve the question of its vs it's, because apostrophes can, in many cases, denote possessives. Perhaps "cat" was an inapt example. Let's use Valeri instead since plural isn't at issue here, and there is only one Valeri in SoCal.
Valeri owns her home. That is Valeri's home (that is the home of Valeri). Valeri's at home now (Valeri is at home now). Accordingly, "Valeri's" could mean the possessive or a contraction.
Now let's look at the same example, using she and her rather than Valeri.
She owns her home. That is her home. She's at home now. The only place that an apostrophe appears is in the contraction. This is an example reflecting that possessive pronouns do not take apostrophes. "She's" cannot mean "her" or "hers", it can only mean "she is".
My point is that one area in which apostrophes *never* denote possessives is in respect of possessive pronouns, whereas leaning into the contraction as a rule for remembering the difference between its and it's really relies on rote memorization.
Since his, hers, their, my, our, etc., come easily to most people because they have internalized the rule, making the rule explicit will help those who rely on their intuition as to whether its or it's is correct.
My explanation is intended to help in all cases of possessive pronouns, particularly with respect to "its" vs "it's" since, of all the personal pronouns, that is the only one that people find confusing.
I hope this is helpful for you to understand my point.
Loved your explanation. You are very kind to take the time to share all of that. Seriously. Thank you. (I didn’t mean to put you to any trouble.)
I have a dear friend that I’ve known since kindergarten. We are in our early 70’s and are both native English speakers. She is very smart and we love to banter on word usage and grammar. One of her (very few) downfalls (in English usage) is when to select “it’s” or “its” -- I discovered this by accident and offered my tip to help her. She told me she has heard all the explanations, and nothing works, but she thanked me and said she relies on a post-it note (she wrote up) which she keeps by her computer to help her remember which is which. Whatever works!
Are you an editor or copy editor, by any chance? I am, so I thought I recognized a kindred spirit. Literature/English/journalism major? Just wondering...
No, although one reason I went to law school was that I thought I would find others who shared my morbid fascination with language. Law review, particularly checking blue book form, was right up my alley, lol
Awww thank you. maybe next time I'll get excited about the subjunctive mood (my English teachers never taught us anything about moods!)
I think my English teachers didn't feel the need to bother because there was never any mention of fucked-up.