Today’s item is a special request from San Diego. The question is: Are Utz really better than nuts? Wait—that’s Mad Men. The actual question is: How do I know whether to use “its” or “it’s”?
its
Its is the possessive form of the pronoun it.
Examples:
The dog lost its collar.
The tasty vegetarian “meatloaf” gets its great flavor from a secret ingredient: ground beef.
Hint:
Singular pronouns his, hers, and its all end with “s,” but none of them require an apostrophe.
It’s
It’sis a contraction for it is or it has.
Example:
It’s been sunny all day today; I hope it’s sunny tomorrow.
(It has been sunny all day today; I hope it is sunny tomorrow.)
Hint:
Read the questionable text. If you can replace it’s with it isor it has and it still makes sense, use the apostrophe. If the replacement terms don’t work, you’re probably looking at the possessive pronoun and the apostrophe should be removed.
Kara Church | Senior Technical Editor
Symitar, A Jack Henry Company
8985 Balboa Ave. | San Diego, CA 92123
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