It's with an apostrophe is a contraction — it is or it has, nothing else. Its without an apostrophe is a possessive determiner, in the same family as his, her, my, your, their. The apostrophe in it's marks missing letters, not ownership; the possessive forms of personal pronouns never take apostrophes (his, hers, yours, ours, theirs, its).
The 25 sentences below drill the one-second replacement test — expand it's to it is; if the sentence survives, the apostrophe stays — plus the advanced traps: its own, it's been, whose vs who's, and the corporate-speak its. Every answer is checked instantly with the reason explained.
It's vs Its Quiz: 25 Questions
Questions come in rounds of 10, from all 25 on this page. Finish a round to continue; every question and answer is also listed below.
Warm-up · the replacement test
___ raining outside.
All questions, answers and explanationsOpen to check your work after the quiz.
1. ___ raining outside.
- Its
- It's
- Its'
- It is'
Correct answer: It's · Expand the contraction: It is raining — a perfect sentence, so the apostrophe form it's is correct. Its needs a noun after it, and raining here is the verb of the sentence. (Its can come before an -ing word used as a noun or adjective: its opening hours, its running costs.)
2. The company changed ___ logo last month.
- it's
- its
- its'
- it
Correct answer: its · The logo belongs to the company, so you need the possessive its. The replacement test proves it: 'the company changed it is logo' is nonsense.
3. ___ been a long week.
- Its
- It's
- Its'
- It was
Correct answer: It's · It's contracts it has as well as it is: it has been a long week. Possessive its can never be followed by been.
4. Every country has ___ own traditions.
- it's
- its
- their's
- its'
Correct answer: its · Own here signals possession: every country has its own traditions. 'It is own traditions' fails the replacement test instantly.
5. I think ___ going to be a great year.
- its
- it's
- its'
- it'll'
Correct answer: it's · Expand: I think it is going to be a great year. Contraction of it is → it's with the apostrophe.
6. The dog wagged ___ tail happily.
- it's
- its
- its'
- it is
Correct answer: its · The tail belongs to the dog: possessive its. 'The dog wagged it is tail' is the replacement test failing out loud.
7. ___ not what I meant.
- Its
- It's
- Its'
- It
Correct answer: It's · It is not what I meant — a contraction, so it's. Before a negative not, only the it is reading makes sense.
8. The phone lost ___ charge overnight.
- it's
- its
- its'
- their
Correct answer: its · Possession again: the charge belongs to the phone, so its. The same rule covers every object: the car, the app, the plant — its.
9. The startup raised ___ first round of funding.
- it's
- its
- its'
- it's'
Correct answer: its · First round belongs to the startup: its. Business writing is where the error rate spikes — 'it's first round' looks right at speed but expands to 'it is first round'.
10. ___ the best coffee in town, in my opinion.
- Its
- It's
- Its'
- Is
Correct answer: It's · It is the best coffee — contraction, so it's. Opinion openers (it's clear, it's important, it's worth noting) are almost always it is.
11. The tree shed ___ leaves early this year.
- it's
- its
- its'
- there
Correct answer: its · Leaves belong to the tree: its leaves. Remember the pronoun family: my, your, his, her, its, our, their — none of them take apostrophes.
12. ___ been raining since morning.
- Its
- It's
- Its'
- It
Correct answer: It's · It has been raining — it's contracts it has before been. This is the trap most people miss: it's is not only it is.
13. Each team must submit ___ report by Friday.
- it's
- its
- their's
- there
Correct answer: its · The report belongs to the team: its report. Note that their's is never a word — possessive theirs has no apostrophe either.
14. ___ important to back up your files.
- Its
- It's
- Its'
- It was'
Correct answer: It's · It is important — the empty-subject it construction always expands cleanly, confirming it's.
15. The cat licked ___ paw and yawned.
- it's
- its
- its'
- it is
Correct answer: its · Possessive its. Quick drill: if the word could be replaced by his or her without breaking the sentence, it's the possessive its.
16. ___ a long way from the airport to the hotel.
- Its
- It's
- Its'
- It
Correct answer: It's · It is a long way — distance sentences start with the empty it, so the contraction it's is correct.
17. The blog updated ___ privacy policy quietly.
- it's
- its
- its'
- their
Correct answer: its · The policy belongs to the blog: its privacy policy. Companies, apps, and websites are all it in English — and all take its.
18. ___ fault was it that the meeting was cancelled?
- Whose
- Who's
- Which
- Whom
Correct answer: Whose · Whose asks about possession: Whose fault was it? Who's means who is or who has and does not fit before fault here.
19. ___ going to need a bigger budget.
- Its
- It's
- Its'
- Is
Correct answer: It's · It is going to need — be going to future always expands, so it's. Possessive its can never precede going.
20. The app is known for ___ simplicity.
- it's
- its
- its'
- it's'
Correct answer: its · Known for + possessive: its simplicity. There is no such form as its' — an apostrophe after the s is never correct for this word.
21. The committee could not reach ___ decision.
- it's
- its
- there
- its'
Correct answer: its · The decision belongs to the committee: its decision. Formal and legal writing prefers its over their for singular collective nouns.
22. ___ a real pleasure to work with this team.
- Its
- It's
- It
- Is
Correct answer: It's · It is a real pleasure — contraction it's. Compliment and evaluation openers (it's great, it's clear, it's a pleasure) are it is every time.
23. The old house had ___ roof repaired in spring.
- it's
- its
- its'
- there
Correct answer: its · Possessive its — the roof belongs to the house. This is the have something done pattern: had its roof repaired.
24. ___ the second time ___ happened this week.
- Its … it's
- It's … its
- It's … it's
- Its … its
Correct answer: It's … it's · Both gaps expand: it is the second time it has happened. Two contractions, two apostrophes — the replacement test works gap by gap.
25. A company that forgets ___ customers pays for it later.
- it's
- its
- their
- its'
Correct answer: its · Customers belong to the company: its customers. Even when 'their' sounds tempting, a singular company takes its in careful writing.
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Apostrophe = Missing Letters, Never Ownership
It's is a contraction of it is or it has — the apostrophe stands where letters went missing. Its is a possessive determiner, a member of the pronoun family my, your, his, her, our, their — and not one member of that family takes an apostrophe. The confusion exists because nouns show possession with 's (the company's logo), but pronouns never do.
So the rule has two halves: it's = it is / it has, always and only. Its = belonging to it, always and only. There is no third usage, and the form its' does not exist in English.
- it's → expand to it is or it has; if the sentence works, keep the apostrophe.
- its → replace with his or her; if the sentence works, keep it apostrophe-free.
- its' → never exists. Neither does it's used for possession.
- Same logic: who's (who is / who has) vs whose (belonging), you're vs your, they're vs their.
The replacement test: read the sentence with 'it is' (or 'it has') out loud. 'The dog wagged it is tail' sounds broken because it is broken, so the word you need is its.
Why Even Native Writers Get This Wrong
English uses 's to mark possession on nouns — Sarah's car, the team's budget — so the eye learns that apostrophe-s means belongs to. Pronouns quietly opt out of that system: his, hers, yours, ours, theirs, its all show possession with no punctuation at all. The its/it's error is what happens when the noun rule gets applied to the pronoun by analogy.
Autocorrect makes it worse, not better: both forms are valid words, so no tool flags 'the company changed it's logo' without a grammar engine. That is why the error survives into published emails, websites, and reports — and why proofreading for this pair specifically is worth the thirty seconds.
When proofreading anything you're about to send, do one pass reading only the its/it's words in context. Searching for the apostrophe is faster than re-reading the whole text.
The Whole Homophone Family: You're, They're, Who's
Its/it's is one member of a family of contraction-vs-possessive pairs that all follow the same logic. Learn the family together and one rule covers every member: in these pairs the apostrophe marks letters missing from a verb (is, are, has), never ownership.
- you're (you are) vs your (belonging to you): You're right — your turn.
- they're (they are) vs their (belonging to them): They're here — their car.
- who's (who is / who has) vs whose (belonging to whom): Who's calling? Who's seen my keys? Whose phone?
- there (place) vs their (possessive) vs they're (they are) — the three-way trap.
- None of the possessives — yours, hers, ours, theirs, its — ever take an apostrophe.
How to Make the Choice Automatic
After the quiz, take any app store listing or company 'About' page and find five uses of its or it's. Expand each one to it is / it has and check whether the writer got it right. Product descriptions use the possessive its constantly (its features, its design), so you will not have to look far, and you will occasionally find an error.
Finally, check your own writing. Paste your last email into PromGee's free grammar checker: it catches its/it's confusion that spellcheckers accept, and explains each fix.
Keep practicing
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you know when to use it's or its?
Use it's only when you can expand it to it is or it has — it's late (it is late), it's been fun (it has been fun). Use its for possession — the app and its features, the dog and its tail. If the replacement test with 'it is' produces nonsense, the word is its.
Why doesn't its have an apostrophe?
Because possessive pronouns in English never take apostrophes: his, hers, yours, ours, theirs, its. The apostrophe-s that marks possession belongs to nouns (the company's logo), and its follows the pronoun pattern instead. The form its' does not exist.
Can it's ever mean it has?
Yes. It's contracts both it is and it has, and the it has reading appears before past participles: it's been raining (it has been raining), it's gone wrong (it has gone wrong). Expansion still works as a test — just try both it is and it has.
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