Matters of grammar can become an issue on any website which deals with large amounts of text. It seems that this is especially the case when the historical usage of certain terms differ from the modern usage.
The spelling of it’s/its, as used in a possessive sense, is one of those contentious terms.
As a possessive term, regarding something that belongs to “it”, the old form, “it’s”, incorporated an apostrophe. However, the style of usage changed, and now the standard modern usage of that word no longer includes an apostrophe.
The change from the possessive “it’s” to “its” appears to have been made for two reasons:
1) To avoid confusion with “it’s” (a contraction of “it is”).
2) To create grammatical consistency, as most of the other possessive pronouns don’t end with ’s (hers, his, mine, ours, theirs, yours), with the exception of “one’s” (although, compared to the other possessive pronouns, “one’s” is not used a lot).
The historical usage
Historically, the term “its” was originally used without an –s ending, which would seem quite odd to us in modern times. For example, “The United Kingdom sent it ships to explore around the world” (in modern times, we would say “sent its ships”).
Then, in the 1600s the word “it”, when used in a possessive sense, was given an apostrophe and an “s” (as generally befits a possessive word), becoming “it’s”. For example, “The United Kingdom sent it’s sailing ships to explore around the world”. This usage predominated in the 17th century.
In the 18th century, the word “’tis” (a contraction of “it is”) started to be replaced by the contraction “it’s”. Even though many good grammarians of the 18th century thought that “it’s” was an abomination, and that “’tis” was the proper form, the new arrival (it’s) gained popularity. This presented a problem with the possessive word “it’s”, as the two could be confused; the solution to this issue was to delete the apostrophe from the older possessive word, changing the term to “its”. Voila! No more confusion (or, at least, that was the theory).
Usage on this website
The usage of “it’s”, as a possessive term, appears in various older texts, some of which appear on this site.
Whilst the style of this site uses the word “its” as the possessive form of “it”, the archaic usage of “it’s” sometimes appears in older texts which are reproduced here. As that usage is a matter of grammatical fashion, and not actually incorrect, the older style has not been changed in those articles.
Listed below are some examples, which appear on the IAC site, of the word “it’s” being used as a possessive:
New Colony [October 1787]
This article has four occurrences s of the possessive “it’s”.
1) re New Holland (Australia): “it’s square surface is much larger than all Europe”
2) re the Kangazoo (kangaroo): “it’s progress is by successive leaps of a great length”
3 & 4) “New Holland, a country equal to all Europe in magnitude, admirably well calculated by it’s situation, and no less so by it’s soil to afford subsistence”
To Miss * * * * * * on Her Arrival in New South Wales [poem, 29 April 1824]
“And humbly sue your charms to wear, / And yield “it’s captive heart to you!””
An Idyll of Dandaloo [poem by Banjo Paterson, 1889]
“A township … It’s grass-grown streets with dust are deep”
A Sunset Wish [poem by Philip Durham Lorimer, 1901]
“For while to-day goes through / It’s dying sheen”
The Aliens [poem by “Dryblower” Murphy, 8 May 1904]
“When comes this irresistless horde / From out it’s Mediterranean slum.”
Compulsory military training [letter to the editor, from “Mary…” 11 February 1911]
This poem uses both “it’s” and “its” as a possessive.
“Mary had a little lamb, / It’s fleece was white as snow … It thought its thoughts were right”
A Gum Leaf from the Golden South [postcard, 27 June 1911]
The poem on this postcard uses “it’s” as a possessive (“The Bush without it’s Gum Leaves”) and “it’s” as a contraction (“Although it’s lost this one”).
Jindalee [poem by Jack Moses, 1923]
“Tho’ once it was a big gum tree — / It’s built our house in Jindalee.”
Barak’s Requiem [poem, 13 September 1930]
“His soul took it’s flight, / To be with his God.”
These few examples show that the possessive “it’s” was being used in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries.
Current usage of the possessive “it’s”
In modern times, the prevailing possessive form of “it” is “its”. All of the learnéd authorities in the world of grammar are quite explicit in their condemnation of “it’s” being used in a possessive sense.
However, there are still some hold-outs, who stick to using an apostrophe with the possessive form of “it”. They are informed by modern grammarians that they are completely wrong — but, to be fair, their usage is not actually wrong, but just somewhat archaic.
Modern day rebels
Although the old style of “it’s” has become outmoded, its usage (no pun intended) has continued past the 18th century, and even into the 21st century. Some people still deliberately use the term, and defend their use of it.
The Grammar Police do not, as yet, have the power to jail these archaic hold-outs, but maybe one day in the future all that will change, and the Grammar Gulags will overflow with hordes of literary villains, syntactic rebels, and grammatical outlaws.
The Grammar Police continue to hunt down these academic outcasts, some of whom are hiding in attics, whilst others are even hiding in plain sight. It may be that, without knowing, even you are associating with some of these rebels yourself. After all, they look just like normal people [insert dramatic music here: Dun dun duuun!].
Of course, the English language is always subject to fluctuations of fashion and changes in the rules of grammar. So, it may be that, one day, the possessive “it’s” will make a comeback, its usage will sweep the land, and it will be hailed in the halls of academia. In which case, the hunted may become the hunters.
If you’ve read this far into the article, then you’ll have realised that this last section was written rather tongue-in-cheek. Nonetheless, the issue of “it’s” versus “its” is still debated in some rarified circles. However, if you want to score well in academia, and don’t want to appear ignorant in the mysterious ways of grammar (even though you may not be ignorant at all), it might be best if you “go with the flow”, follow the prevailing fashion, and use “its” as the possessive form of “it”.
Here endeth the lesson.
References
“The tangled history of ‘It’s’ and ‘Its’: A tale of two really similar words”, Merriam-Webster
“its (pron.)”, Online Etymology Dictionary
“Why do we use apostrophes to show possession? The role of the apostrophe has shifted over time”, Merriam-Webster [gives some historical context re the apostrophe]
“Why doesn’t “its” have an apostrophe?”, StackExchange [forum discussion re “it’s”]
“Apostrophes”, Australian Government Style Manual [“Don’t add an apostrophe to possessive pronouns. … ‘Its’ is a determiner and doesn’t have an apostrophe.”]
“Apostrophes”, Monash University [“The pronoun ‘it’ changes to ‘its’ to indicate possession, but, as with the rest of the pronouns, it doesn’t need an apostrophe.”]
“University of Oxford Style Guide”, University of Oxford, p. 9 [“Do not use an apostrophe in its with the meaning ‘belonging to it’ (this is analogous with his/hers/theirs)”]
Edwin L. Battistella, “How apostrophes came to confuse us”, OUP blog (Oxford University Press), 7 May 2017
“Compact Oxford English Dictionary for Students: Top 10 punctuation tips”, Oxford University Press
Larry Trask, “Possessives”, University of Sussex, 1997 [“the spelling of possessive its. This word never takes an apostrophe”]
Prof. Paul Brians, “ones / one’s”, Washington State University [“The possessive pronoun “one’s” requires an apostrophe before the S, unlike “its,” “hers,” and other personal pronouns.”]
“Possessives”, [“”Its” is a possessive … This is the rare case in which a possessive term does not take an apostrophe.”], in: Professor Marc A. Grinker, “The Legal Writing Teaching Assistant: The Law Student’s Guide to Good Writing”, Chicago-Kent College of Law (see also: “Apostrophes”)
“Misuse of the Apostrophe”, Hamilton College [“Its is the possessive for “it.””]
“Grammar 101: Its vs. It’s”, IELTS (International English Language Testing System) [“Its (without an apostrophe) is the possessive of the pronoun “it””]
“When to use It’s vs. Its: A simple rule to avoid embarrassment”, Merriam-Webster [“Its with no apostrophe … is the possessive word”]
““Its” vs. “It’s”: What is the difference?”, Dictionary.com, 16 August 2022 [“Its is the possessive form of it, used to indicate possession, ownership, belonging, etc.”]
“Commonly Confused Words: it’s/ its”, Vocabulary.com [“Its is the possessive form of “it.””]
Kelly Konya, “Its vs. It’s: Learn the difference”, Grammarly, 9 November 2022 [“its (without an apostrophe) is a possessive pronoun”]
“Its vs. It’s”, GrammarBook.com [“When you are using its as a possessive, don’t use the apostrophe.”]
“Using apostrophes to show possession”, Concise Writing Consultancy [“When you use its to show possession, there is no apostrophe.”]
“When to use Its vs. It’s: Examples, meaning & quiz”, Scribbr, 17 October 2023 [“Its (without an apostrophe) is the possessive form of it”]
“one ”, Wiktionary
“one’s ”, Wiktionary [“Unlike most other possessive determiners (my, your etc., except for his and its), one’s has a word-final s, but unlike possessive pronouns (yours, hers, theirs), it is spelled with an apostrophe.”]
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