Common Confusing Pair: Its vs It's

its = belonging; it's = it is.

Examples

• It's a dog
• its tail is long.

Key rules

• Its is a possessive pronoun meaning belonging to it
• It's is a short form of it is or it has
• Do not use an apostrophe with its in the possessive sense

Common mistakes

• It's tail is long → Its tail is long
• Its a dog → It's a dog

Use cases

• Writing emails and reports
• Checking text messages
• Proofreading a formal document