𝐈𝐍 𝐌𝐘 𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐃 ° WRITING TIPS N' TRICKS

✑ it's, its, and its'

IT'S, ITS, AND ITS'
IN THIS CHAPTER ✧ when to use "it's", when to use "its", when to use "its'", and the difference between the three.
LINK ✧ https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/22650/is-its-a-word-note-the-apostrophe-at-the-end .

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I see people confusing all three of these constantly and I have to remind myself that not everybody remembers the differences like I do, lmao! That's why this chapter is being made and I promise, promise, promise you guys it is super easy. Now Shawn thinks we should just dive right in, so shall we?

          ✧ IT'S: this literally means "it is" and is
          a condensed version. The apostrophe ( ' ) is
          a placeholder for the letter i of "is."

E.g. "It's about time you two got together, Shawn." In this sentence, the use of it's shows the same as this sentence, "It is about time you two got together, Shawn." The only difference between these two sentences is that the first sounds more casual! Most people use casual language when speaking and sometimes it helps the flow of a piece of writing.

          ✧ ITS: belonging to or associated with a
thing previously mentioned or easily
identified. a possessive word without
gender.

E.g. "That's Shawn's guitar, its strings are basically legendary now." In this sentence, the use of its (without any apostrophe) shows that the strings belong to Shawn's guitar. The strings aren't (are not) strings from a cat's toy or stray ones from an old sweater — the strings are on the guitar.

More examples include:
➢ "This cheese is past its expiration date."
➢ "This frog is too small for its aquarium." (This sentence shows us this: The frog is too small, but for what? The aquarium. So to connect these two subjects, the use of 'its' shows us that the aquarium belongs to the frog, not, say, a spider or a lizard. It's the frog's.)

✧ ITS': let's have a discussion about
this one, it's particularly tricky.

So its'. Its'. Hmm. I know I've been taught how to use its' in a sentence and in normal writing before, in fact, I remember using it a lot when I was younger in school. We'd been taught that. But today with me trying to describe how to use its' at all, I've discovered that there's a bit of a controversy in the word — even debate if it's an actual word.

I came upon this really nice discussion on a popular English website that I've used once or twice before when I was stuck and someone brought up the point that the usage of its' is probably related to a generational learning curve.

The user stated that perhaps older people were learning to use its' in their schooling while the younger generations were being taught that it's improper or wrong when there's no correct way of doing things; languages are alive, they change over time and it would make perfect sense if its' used to be acceptable but is now becoming not acceptable.

So the point?

Even if used during normal storytelling, its' might come out as strained. If you feel comfortable using it and were taught how to use it, then I see no problem with it. I studied under older teachers and I often studied older material compared to my classmates so I'm comfortable using its' but others may call it wrong, which is perfectly fine. We've learned differently. I may not know how to explain it right now but that doesn't mean it's wrong — just difficult. Don't use it without knowing if it works.

E.g. Hell nah brother, I have to think of something but I can't right now so deal with it.

If you find anything confusing or unclear, please leave a comment that I can respond to! This was actually difficult for me to describe because I've never had to do this before but I think this went over well. If you have any suggestions for what I should clear up next, leave it here or go to the Q&A section and fill out a form.

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PUBLISHED ✧ November 28, 2019.
(Happy Thanksgiving!)