It’s, Its and Its’ – Fun with Apostrophes
We use apostrophes for many reasons; because we’re being lazy, because we’re being deliberately informal, because we’re highlighting a bit of text, or because we’re indicating ownership.
Because we’re being lazy.
It isn’t fun to type out every little thing, especially those parts of speech we use often. In just the previous two sentences, I have used used apostrophes to make my writing easier:
we’re – we are
isn’t – is not
In these instances, the apostrophe has indicated a contraction, taking the place of missing letters.
Using contractions such as those above, normally is a straightforward affair. However, as is often the case, some people take things to the extreme. I discuss a few examples below.
On just one occasion in the English language, apostrophes appear thrice in the same word: fo’c’s’le, (meaning forecastle, a nautical term for a raised part of the upper deck of a ship).
In contrast, there are several examples in English of words with double contractions. I often use I’d’ve (I’d have); ‘wouldn’t’ve (wouldn’t have); mustn’t’ve (mustn’t have) but there are lots of others too. For a more complete list, look up the Wikipedia article here.
Because we’re being deliberately informal.
Except when employed in a technical term such as fo’c’s’le, contractions imply casual speech. Thus, “I’m a hardworking man” is a perfectly acceptable when writing to a friend, regaling him with tales of your superhuman effort in the workplace, but it is less acceptable in a résumé or CV, where it betrays an air of laziness (see above, Because we’re being lazy). Therefore, the upshot of the foregoing is: don’t use contractions in formal writing.
Because we’re highlighting a bit of text.
There are times when we need to highlight some words in our writing. Whether it is ‘highlighted’ using apostrophes, or highlighted using italics, or highlighted using bold text, the intent remains the same: to cause the reader to pay special attention to the highlighted word(s). Consider these sentences below:
I sat down and read the magazine.
I ‘sat’ down and read the magazine.
I sat ‘down’ and read the magazine.
I sat down and ‘read’ the magazine.
I sat down and read the ‘magazine’.
In each sentence above, where employed, apostrophes have changed the meaning of the sentence considerably.
I ‘sat’ down and read the magazine. – Implies that I did not sit in a normal fashion.
I sat ‘down’ and read the magazine. – Implies that although I sat, it was not into the normal sitting-down position, but into an unusual attitude.
I sat down and ‘read’ the magazine. – This implies that I did not in fact read the magazine; perhaps I only pretended to.
I sat down and read the ‘magazine’. – This implies that I was not reading what normally is understood to be a magazine.
Because we’re indicating ownership.
Personal pronouns in the singular are easy:
The book belongs to him; it is his book.
The book belongs to her; it is her book.
The letter is his.
The letter is hers.
‘His’, ‘hers’ are the personal pronouns used above, and indicate ownership. However, what about impersonal pronouns? What if the owner of an object is not gendered?
This book is damaged. It has lost nearly all its pages.
The drawer is empty. Its contents have been removed.
This ball is hard to pump with air. You have spoilt its valve.
Previously, in the 1600s, apostrophes were used to indicate ownership, thus the sentences above might have written like this:
This book is damaged. It has lost nearly all it’s pages.
The drawer is empty. It’s contents have been removed.
This ball is hard to pump with air. You have spoilt it’s valve.
By the 1960s, it was decided that this usage was too confusing, so the apostrophes were being employed to show ownership like this:
This book is damaged. It has lost nearly all its’ pages.
The drawer is empty. Its’ contents have been removed.
This ball is hard to pump with air. You have spoilt its’ valve.
However, even this use of the apostrophe is deprecated, and now the sentences above are written without any apostrophe whatsoever.
Conclusion.
It’s – it is; the apostrophe denotes a contraction and therefore, at least one missing letter.
Example:
It’s a great day to go outside
It is a great day to go outside
Its – an impersonal pronoun indicating ownership.
Example:
The book has lost its covers.
The covers of the book are lost.
Its’ – an obsolete form of it’s, when used to indicate ownership.
Example (but no longer used in modern English):
The book has lost its’ covers.
The covers of the book are lost.
This is a nice little tutorial on apostrophes. I write poetry and fiction and, lately, have been in some writing classes with some people who really struggle with punctuation. The improper use of apostrophes is one of the things I have noticed. Well, that and an alarming lack of commas. Simple guides like this might be useful to share with some of them. Good work!
Hi Randy.
So, you’re a writer? Oh well, please do respond to this reply and proselytise your website; I’ll be more than happy to pop over and have a gander.
Yes,the state of punctuation illiteracy today is alarming (as is the general state of education, almost globally). It is nearly too horrifying to even consider where we’re going to be in a century’s time. In the end, it appears that a certain level of elitism is required in order for society to have a cadre of intelligentsia to whom it can turn as an arbiter of correctness. Sad, but seemingly, true.
Kind regards,
Tayo
This is a nice simple guide of apostrophe use for different words that use the same letters (i-t-s) but have different apostrophes to indicate a different meaning. I didn’t realize that there was an obsolete version (its’), but now if I see it in an older book somewhere I will remember what it is. Thanks for sharing the quick lesson on fun with apostrophes!
Hi Aly.
I’m happy that you found the article helpful.
Yes, believe it or not, its’ was still in common usage when I was at school, but it died a quick death when I entered my teens and by the time I went to college, it had fallen out of favour and was largely forgotten.
Thank you for post this very interesting topic. One simple fact that I have grown up to understand is that, day after day we learn new things and this is particularly true with English Language. It is very interesting to know that Its’ is an obsolete form of it’s. I have often head many people used the phrase “in Jesus’s name” – is it correct please?
Hi.
I’m glad that you enjoyed the article.
“In Jesus’s name” is absolutely correct, as is, “In Jesus’ name”. Neither form should attract censure in any type of writing. However, being of the old school, I use the first variation, but that is merely a personal choice
There is one “gotcha” to consider, which is how to pronounce the sentence. Some say it properly: “In Jesus’is name”, but others, whether due to laziness, ignorance or stylistic preference, drop the ending syllable: “In Jesus name”. This latter is simply incorrect.
I hope that helps.
Regards,
Tayo
Tayo, it’s quiet a deep explanation and a profound addition the the lessons I’ve received from you earlier.
One thing I need to admit, thought that learning grammar is boring, that’s why I tend to postpone indefinite.
Here, on the other side I’m glad to see that you put it, in kind of a ‘human language’, rather than just compiling a number of definitions and Times in one place.
Keep up the good work Tayo
Pawel
Hi Pawel.
Thank you very much for your kind comments. I’m glad that you found my approach more ‘human’ and less boring! 😊
Yes, I will do my best to keep adding more topics like this, so please feel free to come back regularly to see what’s new.
Regards,
Tayo