Explain the difference between 'Its' and 'It's'?

Answer 1

"Its" is a possessive pronoun of "It". Example: Its rear tire is out of balance.

"It's" generally translates to "It Is" or "It has". Example: It's about time you got home.
its - meaning possession of. [The turtle adapted to its environment.]

It's -meaning it is. [It's time for you to go to bed.]

'''Its''' is a possessive pronoun for a single subject/object, and shows ownership.

Example: "The dog ate its treat.

'''It's''' is the contraction for '''it is'''.

Example: "To get your dog to do tricks, it's good to offer treats as incentive."

Notes: It may be easier to think of the word its as an adjective. It means 'of or relating to it or itself'. This is so tricky; people have trouble with using the apostrophe followed by 's' as possessive and not plural, and then this odd word is thrown in, indicating possession and yet not using the apostrophe. It's [it is] another example of what makes English difficult and quirky, especially for people learning it as a second language.

Its is similar to his, hers, my, your, our and their.

* His means belonging to him.

* Hers means belonging to her.

* My means belonging to me.

* Your means belonging to you.

* Our means belonging to us.

* Their means belonging to them.

* Its means belonging to it.

The usual way of making most nouns plural is by simply adding an 's' to the noun, and NOT apostrophe 's'. I have five dogs. Your dad's tie matches his shirt very well. The mouse caught its tail on a splinter in the floor. Or: The mouse's tail was caught on a splinter in the floor. Or: Its tail was caught on a splinter in the floor. Think about how odd it would sound to say something like: The it's tail was caught on a splinter in the floor.
its

Answer 2

'It's' is a contraction for 'it is' or 'it has,' while 'its' is a possessive form of 'it.' So, 'it's' is used to combine 'it is' or 'it has,' whereas 'its' is used to show possession by 'it.'