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it’s or its?
Like gnats, apostrophes are small and irritating. They have two major functions: to signal that a noun is possessive and to indicate where letters have been left out in contractions. Apostrophes always need careful review.
Use apostrophes to form the possessive. The basic rules for forming the possessive aren’t complicated: For singular nouns, add ’s to the end of the word:
the wolf’s lair
the photographer’s portfolio
IBM’s profits
Bush’s foreign policy
Some possessives, while correct, look or sound awkward. In these cases, try an alternative:
| ORIGINAL | REVISED |
| the class’s photo | the class photo; the photo of the class |
| Alicia Keys’s latest hit | the latest hit by Alicia Keys |
| Kansas’s budget | in the Kansas budget; in the budget of Kansas |
For plural nouns that do not end in s, also add ’s to the end of the word:
men’s shoes
the mice’s tails
the geese’s nemesis
For plural nouns that do end in s, add an apostrophe after that terminal s:
the wolves’ pups
the Bushes’ foreign policies
three senators’ votes
Use apostrophes in contractions. An apostrophe in a contraction takes the place of missing letters. Edit carefully, keeping in mind that a spell-
| DRAFT | Its a shame that its come to this. |
| CORRECTED | It’s (It is) a shame that it’s (it has) come to this. |
| DRAFT | Whose got the list of whose going on the trip? |
| CORRECTED | Who’s (Who has) got the list of who’s (who is) going on the trip? |
Don’t use apostrophes with possessive pronouns. The following possessives do not take apostrophes: its, whose, his, hers, ours, yours, and theirs.
| DRAFT | We photographed the tower at it’s best angle. |
| CORRECTED | We photographed the tower at its best angle. |
| DRAFT | The book is her’s, not his. |
| CORRECTED | The book is hers, not his. |
| DRAFT | Their’s may be an Oscar- |
| CORRECTED | Theirs may be an Oscar- |
There is, inevitably, an exception. Indefinite pronouns such as everybody, anybody, nobody, and so on do show possession via ’s.
House of Cards was everybody’s favorite.
Why it was so successful is anybody’s guess.