its

Its is the possessive determiner that corresponds to the pronoun it. It is used to show that something belongs to or relates to a singular thing or animal that has already been mentioned. Its is used before a noun, as in its color, its engine, or its owner, and it can refer to inanimate objects as well as animals when the gender is not specified.

Its is typically used with singular antecedents. For example, “The company announced its policies.” If the antecedent were plural, you would usually choose their instead of its. For instance, “The teams shared their findings.” Its is placed directly before the noun it modifies.

Common confusion arises with the contraction its versus it’s. It’s is the contraction of it is or it has, as in “It’s been a long day” or “It’s got a new feature.” Its is never contracted and should not contain an apostrophe. A quick test: if you can replace the word with it is or it has, use it’s; otherwise use its.

In modern English, its functions as a possessive form parallel to his and her, but with the neutral pronoun it. Its usage helps avoid gender references to objects or animals. The form is fixed since there is no separate possessive pronoun for it in standard usage. Writers should ensure agreement in number and clarify antecedents to prevent ambiguity.