its

Use its in a sentence

pronoun

Its is defined as the possessive form of it, meaning the thing that belongs to “it.”

An example of its is the phrase its cover which means the cover that belongs to the book.

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"Its." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/ITS.

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Its. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/ITS

its

that or those belonging to it: the possessive form of it, used without a following noun

Origin of its

Early Modern English analogical formation from it + 's; written it's until early 19th circa : the Middle English and Old English form was his

of, belonging to, made by, or done by it

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MLA Style

"Its." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/ITS.

APA Style

Its. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/ITS

its

adjective

The possessive form of it

Used as a modifier before a noun: The airline canceled its early flight to New York.

Origin of its

Alteration of it's it -'s

Usage Note: Its is the possessive form of the pronoun it and is correctly written without an apostrophe: The cat licked its paws. The contraction it's (for it is or it has ) should always have an apostrophe: It's the funniest show I've seen in years. It's been three years since our last trip to Los Angeles.

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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Link to this page

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MLA Style

"Its." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/ITS.

APA Style

Its. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/ITS

Adjective

(possessive adjective)

Belonging to it. [from 16th c.]

Pronoun

(rare) The one (ones) belonging to it.

Usage notes

Its is now distinguished from it's (a contraction of "it is" or "it has"). For example, It's going to rain is equivalent to It is going to rain, and It's got three wheels is equivalent to It has three wheels.
Like it, its is usually avoided when referring to humans. Its is commonly used with animals when the gender is unknown or unimportant. With humans, person is used for a person whose gender is unknown or to describe something that could be possessed by either gender, body or corpse are often used to describe a dead person, and figure, shape, and silhouette are often used to describe what someone sees as a person but can't see clearly enough to determine an identity or gender, e.g. The figure moved behind a bush, but Josh could see its shadow from the moonlight.
Rank among most common English words: #72 (Gutenburg)

Noun

plural form of it

Origin

From it +‎ 's.

Initialism

(computing) Initialism of issue tracking system.

Adjective

Common misspelling of its.

English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.

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Link to this page

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MLA Style

"Its." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/ITS.

APA Style

Its. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/ITS

its - Computer Definition

(Intelligent Transportation Systems) An umbrella term for advanced automation in mobile vehicles. It includes internal and car-to-car communications systems as well as collision avoidance and crash detection systems (see automotive systems). ITS also covers systems that monitor traffic in order to control lights, electronic speed limit signs, reversible lanes and other highway safety components. One of the ultimate and futuristic manifestations of ITS is automatic vehicular guidance, which steers a car by sensors in the road. See IDB, telematics and V2V.ITS AmericaThe Intelligent Transportation Society of America was founded in 1991 to promote ITS systems that enhance safety and reduce congestion. For more information, visit www.itsa.org.

Computer Desktop Encyclopedia THIS DEFINITION IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY All other reproduction is strictly prohibited without permission from the publisher. © 1981-2017 The Computer Language Company Inc. All rights reserved.