Thats

Thats is a nonstandard spelling that most often represents the English contraction that stands for "that is" or "that has." The preferred written form of the contraction is that's, with an apostrophe, which shortens either that is or that has depending on the context. In formal writing, the apostrophe is required; the unpunctuated form thats is generally treated as a misspelling or typographical error.

Origin and usage. The contraction that is formed by combining words with an apostrophe emerged in English from the older practice of omitting letters in rapid writing. The apostrophe marks the missing letters in either "that is" or "that has." Because the two possible expansions share the same pronunciation, the same spelling with the apostrophe is used for both meanings. The plain form without the apostrophe, thats, does not carry a standard meaning in modern standard English and is typically corrected in edited text.

Grammar and style implications. Style guides and dictionaries typically recommend using that's for both "that is" and "that has" to avoid ambiguity. The form thats without an apostrophe is generally considered incorrect in formal writing, though you may encounter it in informal notes, social media, or early drafts where punctuation was omitted. In programming or data contexts, the string thats may appear as a token or identifier, but standard English practice still treats the contraction with an apostrophe as correct.

See also. Contractions in English; punctuation in contraction spelling; style guides for written English.