LPT: It's <its> in its possessive, and <it's> when it's concatenated!

Submitted by Urgettingfat t3_126dpbj in LifeProTips

One of my callings in life seems to be to address this common typo that I find within the places I'd least expect. It's annoying to read from a place from where I'm expecting credibility and consistency, only to find its writers making this same mistake all over their website or posts. The source of the typo comes from its counter-intuitive rule, where normally, to show possession, the word's suffix is appended with an s, using an apostrophe. However in this rare case, the very same word (it) has the ability to also be concatenated with another word (is). So this one time, when it's to show possession, its apostrophe is omitted, so that it can be distinguished from when it's being concatenated. For those who actually read this, thank you for your time and good day.

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beeweeird t1_je8selm wrote

An easier way to remember it is that you only use "it's" if you can replace it with "it is". Otherwise, use "its".

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PRamone t1_je927e1 wrote

"It's" can also be a concatenation of "it has'. "It's been seven years since..."

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GiantRobotTRex t1_je8r1vm wrote

This is not your calling in life. You can do something better.

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omniscientchar t1_je8ry8o wrote

No idea wtf I just read but okay fam tyvm

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darkmooink t1_je98arm wrote

It’s English, English is a descriptive language meaning that however it is used is the correct way. If you want a language that has strict rules as to what is and isn’t correct please see french.

The “rules” you have been taught are only guidelines for the period of time and location you were taught them in. For example I was never taught to use <> as quote marks it was either ‘ or “ but obviously you were, we are both correct because I understood you perfectly.

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keepthetips t1_je8qjex wrote

Hello and welcome to r/LifeProTips!

Please help us decide if this post is a good fit for the subreddit by up or downvoting this comment.

If you think that this is great advice to improve your life, please upvote. If you think this doesn't help you in any way, please downvote. If you don't care, leave it for the others to decide.

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Mitryadel t1_je8s3jk wrote

If anyone ever feels the need to explain the difference between two by using the word “concatenated, I’m just going to assume their life peaked with winning the spelling bee in 7th grade and move on. Sometimes it’s an honest mistake just from the slip of the mind or autocorrect messing it up. If someone genuinely doesn’t know the difference and I feel particularly compelled to explain it, I will just tell them that “it’s” is the contraction for “it is.” That’s some weird superiority complex you’ve got, my dude.

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Urgettingfat OP t1_je8tcra wrote

lol what "concatenated" is a part of my regular vocabulary, and has been for over a decade. Because I use a word often that you don't use often, I have a superiority complex?

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