The confusion of its and it's is actually quite logical. In English, possessive adjectives made from nouns use apostrophes-Sally's shirt, or the dog's collar.

If something belongs to Sally, you refer to it as Sally's. If something belongs to it, you would logically refer to that something as it's. Right?

Wrong! First, remember that grammar has its own logic; grammar rules do not derive from common sense. Second, remember that it is a pronoun, not a noun.

Personal pronouns in English do not use apostrophes to show possession-his, ours, yours. Because it is a personal pronoun, its possessive is formed simply by adding the
letter s.

So when is it correct to use its/it's?

It's is a contraction. Use it's when you mean "it is" or "it has." (Remember that contractions are only appropriate in informal writing.)

In English, apostrophes are used to show that a letter or group of letters has been changed or left out when two words have been contracted (shortened) into one-do not becomes don't, and the apostrophe takes the place of the missing
letter o.

When you want to use it's, check to make sure you could substitute "it is" or "it has" without changing the meaning of the sentence.

1. [It's / Its] too bad we don't have more players on our team.
   It's. You can substitute "it is" in this example without changing the meaning of the sentence.
   
   
2. The team lost three of [it's / its] best players.
   Its. Here, you need a possessive pronoun showing that the players belong to the team.
   
   
3. [It's / Its] been two years since our last family reunion.
   It's. In this example, you can substitute "it has" without changing the meaning of the sentence.

Related Web Sites:
http://www.stormloader.com/garyes/its.html

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Johanna Carter
English Faculty
13300 W. Sixth Avenue
Campus Box 20
Lakewood, CO 80228

Phone:
303-914-6293