Its vs It's
Its is a possessive determiner meaning 'belonging to it': 'The company changed its logo.' It's is a contraction of 'it is' or 'it has': 'It's raining' (it is), 'It's been a long day' (it has). Expand the word to 'it is' or 'it has', if that makes sense, write it's; if not, write its.
The rule
Its vs it's at a glance
Its
It's
- Function
- Possessive determiner, belonging to it
- Contraction of 'it is' or 'it has'
- Apostrophe
- Never has an apostrophe
- Always has an apostrophe
- Expansion test
- Cannot expand to 'it is', the sentence breaks
- Expands cleanly to 'it is' or 'it has'
- Followed by
- A noun: its colour, its price, its owner
- A verb-ing, adjective, or past participle: it's raining, it's late, it's finished
- Example
- The bakery raised its prices.
- It's been raised twice this year.
- Memory trick
- Its behaves like his/her/their, no apostrophe
- It's = it is/it has, expand it to test
Which one do I need?
Its or it's?
Every answer at a glance
it's
It's is short for 'it is'; the apostrophe marks the missing letter. In an IELTS essay, write 'it is' in full instead.
It's hard to find affordable housing in most capital cities.
it's
It's can also be short for 'it has', usually before been or another past participle. In formal writing, use 'it has'.
It's been five years since the old factory closed.
its
Its means 'belonging to it' and works like his and their: possessive pronouns never take an apostrophe, even though the dog's bone does.
The city council has cut its budget for public libraries.
How to use its vs it's
What's the difference between its and it's?
Its, without an apostrophe, is a possessive determiner that shows something belongs to 'it', exactly like his, her, and their. It always sits directly in front of a noun: its colour, its owner, its history.
It's, with an apostrophe, is always a contraction, a short form of 'it is' or 'it has'. Whenever you write it's, you should be able to expand it back into two words without changing the meaning.
- The museum extended its opening hours.possession, belongs to the museum
- It's closed on Mondays.= it is closed on Mondays
- It's been renovated recently.= it has been renovated recently
How do you test which one you need?
The fastest check is the expansion test: mentally replace the word with 'it is' or 'it has'. If the sentence still makes sense, the apostrophe version is correct. If the sentence sounds wrong or nonsensical, you need the possessive its with no apostrophe.
This test works because 'it is/has' and 'belonging to it' are completely different grammatical jobs: one is a subject-plus-verb, the other is a determiner in front of a noun, so there is no overlap to worry about.
- Its raining outside, so take an umbrella.expand: 'It is raining' works → It's raining
- The company reported a fall in it's profits.expand: 'a fall in it is profits' fails → its profits
- The dog buried its bone in the garden.expand test fails ('it is bone') → possessive is correct
Why doesn't 'its' follow the usual apostrophe rule?
Regular nouns show possession with an apostrophe-s: the dog's bone, Maria's flat. Learners naturally expect its to follow the same pattern, but its is a possessive pronoun, not a noun, and English possessive pronouns (his, hers, its, ours, theirs) never take an apostrophe.
Keeping this one exception in mind removes almost all of the confusion: apostrophes show either possession on a noun or a missing letter in a contraction, and its is neither; it is simply the possessive form of 'it'.
- The team celebrated its victory, just like his victory or their victory.its patterns with his/their, no apostrophe
- The team celebrated it's victory.→ its victory
Common mistakes with its vs it's
Find what is wrong in each one, then open it to check.
1The team lifted the trophy to celebrate it's victory.What's wrong? Show the fix
The team lifted the trophy to celebrate its victory.
This shows possession (the team's victory), so the possessive its with no apostrophe is needed.
2Its going to rain later, so bring a coat.What's wrong? Show the fix
It's going to rain later, so bring a coat.
This is a contraction of 'it is', so it needs an apostrophe: it's.
3The cat licked it's paw clean.What's wrong? Show the fix
The cat licked its paw clean.
'Paw' belongs to the cat, so the possessive its (no apostrophe) is correct.
4Its been three years since I visited Hanoi.What's wrong? Show the fix
It's been three years since I visited Hanoi.
This expands to 'it has been three years', so the contraction it's is required.
Practise
Write your own
Write a sentence that uses its or it's, about you, your studies or your town.
Its vs It's in IELTS
Speaking
- Contractions like it's sound natural in Speaking and are expected in an informal, conversational register: 'It's been a while since I tried something new.' Avoiding all contractions can sound stiff and memorised.
- When describing an object, place, or organisation in Part 2, its is the natural possessive: 'The café is small, but its coffee is excellent.' Getting this right signals basic accuracy control.
Writing
- In Writing Task 1 and 2, prefer its over it's; formal academic writing generally avoids contractions altogether, so 'it's' rarely belongs in your essay at all.
- When it does slip in, check it with the expansion test before submitting: if 'it is' or 'it has' doesn't fit, change it's to its. This single check removes one of the most common Band 5 to 6 accuracy errors.