It’s vs Its – With the help of this fun worksheet for kids learn the difference between It’s and Its.
What’s the difference between it’s and its?
One of the most common grammatical errors in the English language is the misuse of the words its and it’s. Sometimes you may come across its’ which is not even a word. The reason this problem exists is because you cannot differentiate between the two when speaking as they sound the same. However, this mistake is not hard to fix once you understand the difference.
It’s is actually a contraction of two words that have been made one with the use of an apostrophe. The word can have one of two full forms: it is or it has.
Here is an example where it’s means it is-
Hooray! It’s time to go to the beach.
Now lets look at an example where it’s means it has:
Hello, Arjun. It’s been such a long time since we last met.
A simple test to figure out whether to use it has or it is- expand the word to the full form and see if the sentence still makes sense.
Let’s apply this rule to the above sentences and see what we get-
Hooray! It is time to go to the beach.
Hello, Arjun. It has been such a long time since we last met.
Its without an apostrophe is a possessive pronoun. You use its when you are talking about something that is part of or belonging to an ‘it.’
For example-
Singapore is known for its cleanliness.
The it here is Singapore and the thing that belongs to it or is part of Singapore is its cleanliness.
If you try to apply the test you get-
Singapore is known for it is cleanliness.
Singapore is known for it has cleanliness.
Both these sentences sound completely wrong and therefore the sentence here cannot have an apostrophe.
How to use the worksheet
1. Download the worksheet using the red download button at the top.
2. Take a print out of the worksheet using your printer.
3. Solve the worksheet using a pencil or a pen and ask your parents/teachers to check your answers.
For more interesting English worksheets and lessons, go to our English Worksheets and Lessons category page.