In the cat's bowl it signals possession, and in the cat's sleeping it represents the contracted verb is.īut in current established English there is indeed a distinction between the two, and we recommend that you follow it: use it's only when you mean it is or it has, and drop the apostrophe everywhere else. It would be simpler, of course, if there were only one form in use, and there's an argument to be made for using it's in all cases 's serves both purposes just fine for nouns. IT is an abbreviation for information technology.people with IT skills. The version without the apostrophe only became dominant in the 18th century-probably because it's was taking on a new role, replacing the contraction 'tis. IT is the theory and practice of using computers to store and analyse information. This apostrophe form of the possessive remained extremely common throughout the 17th century and was used by the likes of Thomas Jefferson and Jane Austen. When it appeared with an s in the early 1600s, an apostrophe was involved, and the resulting it's meant "of or relating to itself," as in "a house with it's own little garden." Meanwhile, its means "of or relating to it or itself":īut this rule wouldn't have worked a few centuries ago. Theyre ubiquitous, and ubiquitously confused. used in combination): a well-meaning person. contraction its ts : it is : it has Did you know Keeping Its and Its in Their Places Its and its. the end, purpose, or significance of something. The apostrophe signals that something has been removed: what is intended to be or actually is expressed or indicated import: the three meanings of a word. In theory, the rule that distinguishes the two is simple: it's means it is or it has. They're ubiquitous, and ubiquitously confused.
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