Certain sets of words in the English language tend to confuse writers. I have found the following to be among them:
IT’S / ITS
It’s is a contraction of it is while its is a possessive pronoun referring to something belonging to it:
It’s only September, and already our big shade tree has lost its leaves.
Or, as stated on this popular wine-aficionado refrigerator magnet:
No wine before its time. It’s time!
The confusion here most likely lies in the fact that we think of possessives as having an apostrophe, which they do when formed from nouns. However, it is a pronoun, and pronouns do not use an apostrophe when forming their possessives.
Jake’s brother constantly borrows Jake’s coat because he likes it better than his own.
Note in the above example that the noun Jake takes an apostrophe when forming the possessive but the pronoun his does not. Perhaps this can help us remember that even pronouns ending in s (e.g., his, hers, yours, theirs) don’t take an apostrophe when forming the possessive. Hence, the possessive pronoun its contains no apostrophe while the contraction it’s, like all other contractions (e.g., we’ll, he’d, who’s, I’ve), does.
© 2016 Ann Henry. All Rights Reserved.