Spelling - It's and Its

This is a very common mistake and it is an easy mistake to make, particularly as we are obsessed with writing quickly to just get the job done. Whether you are blogging or writing for a client you should always take the time to read over what it is you have done.

Its and it’s are two very different words and convey two very different meanings.

“Its” is what is known as a possessive pronoun, pretty much meaning “belonging to it”. So when used in a sentence you would perhaps see:

• Put the hamster in its cage.

• Put the key into its keyhole.

An easy way to remember this is to see if the word "its" can be put into two words. If it can't be changed to "it has" or "it is", then it needs to remain as "its"!

“It’s” is known as a contraction. This is when two separate words are joined to make one word. The apostrophe is used to denote a missing letter or missing letters in the two words joined together. Let’s look at some examples:

• It has been cold today – It’s been cold today.

• It is a sad day – It’s a sad day.

To remember whether to use it’s or its in a sentence, look at what you are writing about before you click submit!