How do I remember its vs it's?

Only use it's when you can swap in 'it is' or 'it has'. If you mean belonging to it, use its with no apostrophe — just like his and hers have no apostrophe. Try: 'The dog wagged its tail' (belonging) vs 'It's a sunny day' (it is).

Contractions vs Possessives | Learn to Read

One mark, two jobs

The little apostrophe ( ' ) has two main jobs. It can show a missing letter, or it can show owning. Knowing which job it is doing helps you write it in the right place. ✏️

Job 1: a missing letter (contractions)

A contraction squashes two words into one and uses an apostrophe to mark the missing letters. ✂️

Two words	Contraction
do not	don't
can not	can't
I am	I'm
it is	it's

The apostrophe stands exactly where the missing letters used to be.

Job 2: owning (possessives)

A possessive apostrophe shows that something belongs to someone. We add 's to the owner.

Owner	Possessive
Sam	Sam's hat 🎩
the cat	the cat's tail 🐱
the girl	the girl's book 📖

So the dog's bone means the bone of the dog. 🦴

The tricky pair: it's vs its

This pair catches lots of people out!

it's = it is (or it has). It's a contraction. ☀️ → It's raining.
its = belonging to it. No apostrophe! 🐢 → The turtle hid in its shell.

If you can swap in it is, use it's. If not, use its.

A handy check

Read your sentence aloud. If you can stretch it back into two words (do not, it is), it is a contraction. If it shows something belongs to someone, it is a possessive. 👂

Play and practise

Play the matching game to sort missing-letter words from owning words. Then flip the flashcards to check each apostrophe's job.

Keep going

Try these next:

Missing letters: Apostrophes for Contractions
Sound-alikes: Homophones: there, their, they're

Now you know both apostrophe jobs! ✨ Super! 🌟

Quick quiz

Test yourself and earn XP

What does the apostrophe in 'don't' show?

Which means 'it is'?

Which is the possessive (owning)?

Play & learn

Contractions vs Possessives

Key takeaways