It's is short for it is or it has; its shows that something belongs to it. In the same way, you're is short for you are, and your shows that something belongs to you. To choose, read the sentence with the full words ("it is," "you are"). If it still makes sense, use the apostrophe version; if it doesn't, leave the apostrophe out.
The one test that fixes both
Expand the contraction and read the sentence aloud.
| Sentence | Expand it | Makes sense? | Correct |
|---|---|---|---|
| ___ raining again. | It is raining again. | Yes | It's raining again. |
| The company changed ___ logo. | The company changed it is logo. | No | The company changed its logo. |
| ___ going to love this. | You are going to love this. | Yes | You're going to love this. |
| Is this ___ jacket? | Is this you are jacket? | No | Is this your jacket? |
That's the whole rule. The apostrophe marks missing letters (the i in is, the a in are), so it only appears when letters are actually missing.
Its vs. it's
It's = it is, or it has
- It's late. (It is late.)
- It's been a long week. (It has been a long week.)
- I think it's broken. (I think it is broken.)
The it has meaning catches some people out. When it's comes before a past participle such as been, gone or taken, it means it has: "It's taken three hours."
Its = belonging to it
- The tree lost its leaves.
- Each chapter has its own summary.
- The app updates its data every hour.
Here, its works just like his or her. You'd never write "hi's car" or "he'r book," and its follows the same pattern.
Why "its" has no apostrophe
This is the part that feels backward. We use apostrophes for possession all the time: Maria's laptop, the dog's bowl. So why not it's tail?
Because possessive pronouns never take apostrophes. Look at the full set:
| Pronoun | Possessive |
|---|---|
| I | my, mine |
| you | your, yours |
| he | his |
| she | her, hers |
| it | its |
| we | our, ours |
| they | their, theirs |
| who | whose |
None of them has an apostrophe. Its is simply one more member of the list. Apostrophe-s is for nouns (the city's parks); pronouns have their own possessive forms built in.
If it helps, remember: his, hers, its. No apostrophes in any of them.
Your vs. you're
You're = you are
- You're right.
- Let me know when you're ready.
- You're welcome.
Your = belonging to you
- Is this your phone?
- Thanks for your help.
- Your appointment is at 3 p.m.
Mistakes here usually happen in quick messages, where typing by sound takes over. "Your welcome" and "your right" are the two that show up most, and both should be you're.
A sentence with both
You're going to need your passport.
Expand: "You are going to need your passport." The first slot passes the test; the second ("you are passport") doesn't. Sentences like this are good practice because both forms sit side by side.
The same logic works for other pairs
Once you know the expand-it test, it settles several other common mix-ups:
| Contraction | Possessive or other word | Test |
|---|---|---|
| they're (they are) | their (belonging to them); there (a place) | "They are coming" vs. "their car" vs. "over there" |
| who's (who is / who has) | whose (belonging to whom) | "Who's next?" vs. "Whose bag is this?" |
Who's and whose follow exactly the same pattern as it's and its: the apostrophe marks a contraction, and the possessive has none.
Quick quiz
Fill in the blanks.
- ___ the best part of the movie. (its / it's)
- The team celebrated ___ win. (its / it's)
- Did you finish ___ essay? (your / you're)
- I think ___ overthinking this. (your / you're)
- ___ been a while since we talked. (its / it's)
- ___ sure ___ notes are complete? (your / you're)
Answers:
- It's (it is the best part)
- its (the win belongs to the team)
- your (the essay belongs to you)
- you're (you are overthinking)
- It's (it has been a while)
- You're, your (you are sure; the notes belong to you)
How to stop making the mistake
Knowing the rule isn't the hard part. These errors happen because we type fast and type by sound. A few habits help:
- Search your draft for "its," "it's," "your" and "you're" before you send anything important, and run the expand test on each one. It takes less than a minute.
- Slow down on the second read, not the first. Write freely, then check these words on purpose.
- Watch for autocorrect. Phone keyboards sometimes "fix" a correct its into it's.
- Use a context-aware checker. A spellchecker can't flag these, because every form is a real word. ZeroTell's Grammar Checker looks at the whole sentence, fixes missing or misplaced apostrophes and, if you ask for explanations, tells you why each change was made.
If you're working through common mix-ups, affect vs. effect and who vs. whom follow the same "test it in the sentence" approach. For the punctuation mark writers ask about most, see our comma rules.
Key takeaways
- It's = it is or it has. Its = belonging to it.
- You're = you are. Your = belonging to you.
- Expand the word. If "it is" or "you are" fits, use the apostrophe.
- Possessive pronouns (his, hers, its, yours, theirs, whose) never take an apostrophe.
- Its' isn't a word.
