What makes no sense to me is the word "its" or "it's". I never got how only when it is a contraction of "it is" should there be an apostrophe. The other use of it is possessive like "This is its only chance". If it is possessive shouldn't be put an apostrophe between the t and the s in that situation as well? Someone explain this to me!
2006-10-08 18:37:47 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
Possessive pronouns don't have an apostrophe -- like ours, hers, his, yours, and its. It's just one of the funny rules of English. (By the way, I'm very impressed that you know and appreciate the difference between it's and its.)
2006-10-08 18:45:48 · answer #1 · answered by Fall Down Laughing 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Okay, people, time for your free English lesson this month. Our lesson this time is on the difference between the possessive "its" and the contraction "it's." It really is a simple difference, because the possessive "its," without an apostrophe, only means "belonging to it," in just the same way that "his" means "belonging to him" and "her" can sometimes mean "belonging to her." On the other hand, the contraction "it's," with an apostrophe, means "it is" or sometimes "it has." We do the same thing with the other pronouns, of course, since "he's" means "he is" or "he has," and "she's" means "she is" or "she has."
I think the confusion is in the fact that we're so used to indicating possession by using an apostrophe and an "s" after someone's name: Gary's car, Bruce's collection, Seth's and Vanessa's interminable bickering, etc. So the natural inclination might be to put an apostrophe after "it" to indicate possession, right? Wrong! It's as dumb-looking as saying that if the pencil belongs to him, it is "him's pencil."
The difference is simple: "Gary" and "Bruce" and "Seth" and "Vanessa" are all proper nouns. They take the apostrophe when you make a possessive noun out of them. But none of the possessive pronouns has an apostrophe (remember, "none" is singular). In some cases, entirely different words are used, such as "his" and "hers." In sum, the point of this lecture is that the possessive pronoun "its" does not have an apostrophe. Get it? Got it! Good!
2006-10-09 01:49:21 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
The only way to explain is that in the first case it's is separating two words therefore the apostrophe. In the second case only one word therefore no apostrophe. And I'm really trying to remember but I think that words that are possessive you only ad an s not the apostrophe. please correct me if I am wrong.
2006-10-09 04:42:44 · answer #3 · answered by KIM J 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's is a contraction which means "it is".
Its without the apostrophe is the possessive form of it.
Example: I love that drink, but I don't know its name.
You know not to use the apostrophe because you are not contracting (or shortening) the words "it is".
"I love that drink, but I don't know it is name" makes no sense. Hence, you know not to use an apostrophe.
2006-10-09 01:50:16 · answer #4 · answered by Bookie J 2 · 3⤊ 0⤋
It is a pronoun just like he or she. Thus, the possessive form, its, has no apostrophe just like there is no apostrophe for the words his and her.
2006-10-09 01:43:36 · answer #5 · answered by iuneedscoachknight 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
When you say each of these words, you will notice that they sound exactly the same. In other words, there is nothing about the sound of the words that indicates how they should be spelled. The spelling rules were simply made up and are therefore arbitrary. Even though they don't make sense to you, the best you can do is memorize them.
2006-10-10 13:39:10 · answer #6 · answered by drshorty 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's (with the apostrophe) is a contraction of "It is." Because "it's" is already in use, "its" became the possessive.
So, you see. . .It's its only choice! :-)
2006-10-09 01:49:10 · answer #7 · answered by Wolfeblayde 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It's is a contraction for it is. It is = to it's, but they are 2 separate words "it" and "is". Contraction is when we put a personal pronoun (I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they) and the verb ("to be" in this case) together (it's, he's, she's , etc) using an apostrophe.
It is red. It's red
It is his house. It's his house.
For the possessive pronoun it is only 1 word, the word "its". No contraction. Possessive pronouns (my, your, his, her, its, yours. our, your, their) are single words not contractions, so no apostrophe.
"it's" and "its" are completely different, it is not the same words. The possessive pronoun "its" is for objects or animals, for example.
The house's window is broken. its window is broken.
The dog's leash is red. Its leash is red.
So we can say; It is its red leash. It's its red leash.
2006-10-09 01:56:53 · answer #8 · answered by mr_martinez 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's is ONLY "it is". "Its" is just plural. If you are really still confused, the best thing to do is read the sentence out loud, substituting "it is" for "it's" - you'll know it sounds really wrong if you are aiming for "its". Like in your example, it sounds wrong to say "This is it is only chance." so you know to not use the apostrophe.
2006-10-09 07:39:12 · answer #9 · answered by Lydia 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's time to go- Just try it out-"It IS time to go." The apostrophe means "is".
Its time had finished.. Try it out." It IS time had finished.?" That doesn't make sense when you say it aloud, does it? Its means belonging to it. It's means "it is".
2006-10-09 16:55:51 · answer #10 · answered by rhymer 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋