wikipedia
English
rank|upon|may|about|72|its|time|only|like
Etymology
Probably by analogy with possesives ending in 's. There is no apostrophe, by analogy with his/hers/yours/etc. and to distinguish the pronoun from the contraction it's. Note that the corresponding Old English and Middle English genitive form is his.
Pronunciation
IPA|/ɪts/, SAMPA|/Its/
audio|en-us-its.ogg|Audio (US)
Homophones
it's
Pronoun
its
- Possessive form of it.
#: This jar has a lid; this is its lid.
Translations
trans-top|possessive of it
Czech: jeho
Danish: dens c, dets n
Dutch: ervan|het ... ervan, de zijne
Finnish: sen#Finnish|sen
trans-mid
French: son m, sa f, ses p
German: sein m, ihr f, sein m
Spanish: su s, sus p
Swedish: dess
trans-bottom
Adjective
its
- Belonging to it (used as a possessive adjective|possessive adjective).
#: The team on this side of the field and that one over there each has a Captain. I am this one's, you are its.
Translations
trans-top|belonging to it
Czech: jeho
Danish: dens c, dets n
Dutch: zijn m, haar f (Dutch has no genitive of het (it))
Esperanto: gxia
Finnish: sen#Finnish|sen
trans-mid
French: le sien m, la sienne f
Spanish: suyo m sing, suya f sing, suyos m|p, suyas f|p
Swedish: dess
trans-bottom
Usage notes
Its is the possessive form of it: its therefore does not require an apostrophe to indicate possession as it is already a possessive term, similar to his and hers.
It's is a contraction of "it is" or "it has."
Its can function as a possessive pronoun and a possessive adjective. Its form is the same when used in either case.
Anagrams
sit
See also
their
Category:English third person pronouns
fr:its
ko:its
it:its
la:its
hu:its
ja:its
pl:its
pt:its
simple:its
fi:its
sv:its
vi:its
tr:its
zh:its
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