I was in the local big ORANGE home store (with the orange aprons) and I saw a sign in the garden center, written with one of those big sharpies, in front of the bags of dirt, proclaiming "Spring Sale! 10% off it's marked price!" This annoyed me.
Here is a public service announcement: “its” is the possessive of “it,” parallel to “his” and “hers,” no apostrophe. “It's” is the contraction of “it is,” the apostrophe signaling the missing space and letter. If you are in doubt, try substituting “it is” for the word; if the meaning doesn't change, then “it's” is correct. If it does change, then go with “its.” “Everything in its own place” doesn't work if it becomes “everything in it is own place.” But “It's sad to see writing ignorance” does work as “It is sad to see writing ignorance.” I don't know why this is so difficult. It's so damned common and people can't get it right.
Here is a public service announcement: “its” is the possessive of “it,” parallel to “his” and “hers,” no apostrophe. “It's” is the contraction of “it is,” the apostrophe signaling the missing space and letter. If you are in doubt, try substituting “it is” for the word; if the meaning doesn't change, then “it's” is correct. If it does change, then go with “its.” “Everything in its own place” doesn't work if it becomes “everything in it is own place.” But “It's sad to see writing ignorance” does work as “It is sad to see writing ignorance.” I don't know why this is so difficult. It's so damned common and people can't get it right.
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