(Topic ID: 276904)

Guess what? "It's" always means "It is" (except when it doesn't)

By DanQverymuch

3 years ago


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    #1 3 years ago

    Today's nitpick involves the possessive, "its."

    When you write about something belonging to a woman, you don't say "her's," right? Just "hers."

    When you write about something belonging to a man, you don't say "hi's," right? Just "his."

    The same goes for things belonging to another thing, no apostrophe. "Its."

    As such, "it's" can only mean one thing, "it is."*

    This one even trips up professional writers on occasion, so I'm not expecting miracles. But it seems simple enough to me. Just remember how dumb "hi's" looks and you're almost there!

    * before someone gets clever with an Addams Family reference, please recall that Cousin Itt's name was spelled with two t's!

    #11 3 years ago
    Quoted from bane:

    “It has” also = “it’s”

    Sometimes. It's a weird case, doesn't always work. "It has two noses" is not the same as "It's two noses." It only works using the contracted "has" as an auxiliary verb followed by another verb, e.g. "It's smelled better."

    However, I agree that this means that "it's" doesn't always mean "it is." But what it NEVER means is "belonging to it."

    #14 3 years ago

    Some things are better left unwritten?

    #22 3 years ago
    Quoted from bane:

    I did not state that “it has” can always be contracted to “it’s”.
    I also loathe the misuse of apostrophes.
    Perhaps your thread should be renamed.

    Well, you said they were equal, which certainly seems like it could be taken that way.

    I will tweak the title.

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