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.)

It's or Its? 25 Exercises With Instant Answers

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

Warm-up · the replacement test

1.___ raining outside.

2.The company changed ___ logo last month.

3.___ been a long week.

4.Every country has ___ own traditions.

5.I think ___ going to be a great year.

6.The dog wagged ___ tail happily.

7.___ not what I meant.

8.The phone lost ___ charge overnight.

Core · traps that catch native writers

9.The startup raised ___ first round of funding.

10.___ the best coffee in town, in my opinion.

11.The tree shed ___ leaves early this year.

12.___ been raining since morning.

13.Each team must submit ___ report by Friday.

14.___ important to back up your files.

15.The cat licked ___ paw and yawned.

16.___ a long way from the airport to the hotel.

17.The blog updated ___ privacy policy quietly.

Challenge · homophones and double duties

18.___ fault was it that the meeting was cancelled?

19.___ going to need a bigger budget.

20.The app is known for ___ simplicity.

21.The committee could not reach ___ decision.

22.___ a real pleasure to work with this team.

23.The old house had ___ roof repaired in spring.

24.___ the second time ___ happened this week.

25.A company that forgets ___ customers pays for it later.

Answer key and explanationsOpen after you finish the quiz.

1. It'sExpand 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. itsThe 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. It'sIt's contracts it has as well as it is: it has been a long week. Possessive its can never be followed by been.
4. itsOwn here signals possession: every country has its own traditions. 'It is own traditions' fails the replacement test instantly.
5. it'sExpand: I think it is going to be a great year. Contraction of it is → it's with the apostrophe.
6. itsThe tail belongs to the dog: possessive its. 'The dog wagged it is tail' is the replacement test failing out loud.
7. It'sIt is not what I meant — a contraction, so it's. Before a negative not, only the it is reading makes sense.
8. itsPossession again: the charge belongs to the phone, so its. The same rule covers every object: the car, the app, the plant — its.
9. itsFirst 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. It'sIt 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. itsLeaves belong to the tree: its leaves. Remember the pronoun family: my, your, his, her, its, our, their — none of them take apostrophes.
12. It'sIt 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. itsThe report belongs to the team: its report. Note that their's is never a word — possessive theirs has no apostrophe either.
14. It'sIt is important — the empty-subject it construction always expands cleanly, confirming it's.
15. itsPossessive its. Quick drill: if the word could be replaced by his or her without breaking the sentence, it's the possessive its.
16. It'sIt is a long way — distance sentences start with the empty it, so the contraction it's is correct.
17. itsThe policy belongs to the blog: its privacy policy. Companies, apps, and websites are all it in English — and all take its.
18. WhoseWhose asks about possession: Whose fault was it? Who's means who is or who has and does not fit before fault here.
19. It'sIt is going to need — be going to future always expands, so it's. Possessive its can never precede going.
20. itsKnown for + possessive: its simplicity. There is no such form as its' — an apostrophe after the s is never correct for this word.
21. itsThe decision belongs to the committee: its decision. Formal and legal writing prefers its over their for singular collective nouns.
22. It'sIt 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. itsPossessive its — the roof belongs to the house. This is the have something done pattern: had its roof repaired.
24. It's … it'sBoth gaps expand: it is the second time it has happened. Two contractions, two apostrophes — the replacement test works gap by gap.
25. itsCustomers belong to the company: its customers. Even when 'their' sounds tempting, a singular company takes its in careful writing.

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.

Catch Its/It's Errors Before You Hit Send

Spellcheckers approve both words. PromGee's free grammar checker catches the ones used wrong — paste any email or document and see every fix explained.

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