Spelling.School · How to spell

How to spell its

What it means: Belonging to or associated with it.

In a sentence: The dog wagged its tail happily. ▶

The part people get wrong

Often misspelled as it's or its'.

Sounds like, but is not: it's. Same sound, different spelling and meaning.

Same family: it, itself, they, their. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: The word "its" is a relatively late form in English; before the 1600s, people often used "his" or "thereof" instead. The apostrophe-free possessive form "its" became standard as English spelling slowly separated possessive pronouns (its, his, hers) from possessive nouns (dog's, teacher's).

Try spelling it

You will hear the word and a sentence. Type it and press Enter. Then four more words from the same level, so you know where you stand.

Words like this

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