Is it it’s or its?

𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀.

I don’t mind admitting it took me far longer than it should have to learn this rule.

I don’t remember anyone ever saying it to me as bluntly as this.

‘It’ (apostrophe) ‘s’ is only ever short for ‘it is’.

And it confused me because it seems illogical.

🐅 If I said: The tiger’s location was unknown — here, the possessive apostrophe is correct. The location of the tiger. The location belonging to the tiger. The tiger’s location.

But if I wanted to replace ‘the tiger’ with ‘it’, we drop the apostrophe. Just because. 

𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀.

It’s location was unknown. ❌ (=It is location was unknown.)

Its location was unknown. ✅

📱 You have to watch your phone for this one as your predictive text will often assume you’re going for it’s. 

💡 This rule applies to other words too.

‘Theirs’ ✅ means it belongs to them. (Not their’s. ❌) 

‘Hers’ ✅ means it belongs to her. (Not her’s. ❌) 

And, again, to hammer home the point:

‘Its’ ✅ means it belongs to it. (Not it’s. ❌) 

🔎 This issue cropped up in the gritty urban fantasy I’m editing this week.

🖊️ “This bloke writes like a crab’s dipped it’s feet in ink.” ❌

🦀 “This bloke writes like a crab’s dipped its feet in ink.” ✅

I love this image, especially now it’s punctuated correctly. 😁