Its vs. it’s
Last reviewed: 2026-06-21
"Its" is the possessive form of "it" — it shows ownership, as in "the company changed its name". "It’s" is a contraction of "it is" or "it has" — as in "it’s ready" or "it’s been a while". The apostrophe in "it’s" marks the missing letters of a contraction, not possession.
What the difference is
The confusion comes from a clash of two rules. Normally an apostrophe-plus-s marks possession ("the dog’s leash"), so by analogy "it’s" looks like it should be the possessive of "it". But "its" is one of a small group of possessive pronouns — like "his", "hers", "yours", "ours", and "theirs" — that never take an apostrophe. The apostrophe in "it’s" is doing the other job an apostrophe does: marking a contraction, the letters dropped when "it is" or "it has" is shortened.
A reliable test settles every case: expand the apostrophe. If "it is" or "it has" can replace the word and the sentence still makes sense, the contraction "it’s" is correct ("it’s raining" → "it is raining"). If it cannot, you want the possessive "its" ("the team lost its lead" — "it is lead" is nonsense). When in doubt, read the sentence with "it is" substituted in; the right choice becomes obvious.
Why it matters for website copy
"Its vs. it’s" is one of the most common errors in English, and one of the most visible — it appears constantly in web copy because possessive "its" is everywhere ("its features", "its price", "its homepage"). It is also a homophone-style error: the two forms sound identical, so the wrong one slips in without notice, and because both "its" and "it’s" are correctly spelled words, a spell checker passes either one regardless of which the sentence needs.
That makes it a textbook case of an error that survives automated checks and a quick read alike. The mistake straddles spelling and punctuation — it is the wrong word, and the apostrophe is the visible tell — both of which fall within a careful proofreading pass. Catching it means reading for meaning, applying the "it is" test, rather than relying on a dictionary, since on the page each form is spelled perfectly correctly.
Common mistakes
The most common mistake is writing "it’s" for the possessive ("the brand updated it’s logo") on the false analogy with "the brand’s logo". The reverse — "its" for the contraction ("its been a great year") — is less frequent but just as wrong. The fix for both is the same: substitute "it is" (or "it has"); if it reads correctly, use "it’s", and if it does not, use "its". And do not expect a spell checker to flag either — both are real words, so the check passes whichever one you typed.
Related terms & reading
- Homophone The broader category — same-sounding words a spell checker can’t tell apart — that this pair belongs to.
- The most common website copy errors Where the apostrophe slips sit among the six recurring kinds of copy error.
- Website spell checker Both "its" and "it’s" are spelled correctly — so this is a read-for-meaning catch, not a dictionary one.
Related reading: homophone-style error, and spell checker passes either one.
Frequently asked questions
When do I use "its" and when "it’s"?
Use "it’s" only when you mean "it is" or "it has" — the apostrophe marks the dropped letters of a contraction. Use "its" for possession, like "his" or "hers" ("the team lost its lead"). The test: if "it is" fits in place of the word, write "it’s"; if not, write "its".
Why is "its vs. it’s" so easy to get wrong?
Because an apostrophe usually signals possession ("the dog’s leash"), so "it’s" looks like it should be possessive — but possessive pronouns like "its", "his", and "hers" never take an apostrophe. The two forms also sound identical and are both correctly spelled, so the wrong one slips past both the ear and a spell checker.