(it's) is a contraction of it is.  (its) is correct when trying to show possession.  If someone tries to use (its'), they should be shot.

Its/It's

Lately it seems that everywhere I turn I see evidence of the rapid decay of American grammar. But even though I've become accustomed to errors in advertisements and on television, I have continued to hold newspapers to a higher standard. Imagine my shock, therefore, when a recent headline in The New York Times used "it's" as a possessive, rather than the proper "its" (no apostrophe). Am I fighting a losing battle? -- Donna Hamlin, New York, NY.

I hope it's not a losing battle, but I can't promise you victory, considering how quickly popular grammar seems to be going to the damnation bow-wows. Then again, the confusion of "its" with "it's" may be an infuriating symbol of grammatical ignorance, but it's not a clear- cut case if we look at the history of English, as we shall see.

Strictly speaking, in modern usage the possessive form of the pronoun "it" is, as you note, "its." The formation "it's" is a contraction, standing for "it is" (or "it has"). Thus we might say "It's (it is) a nice day for sailing, but my boat has lost its (the boat's) rudder." The difference between the two forms is clear, but evidently curiously difficult for many people to remember.

At the risk of giving aid and comfort to the "ungrammarians" among us, however, I must note that the difference between "it's" and "its" was not always so definite. Until the 19th century, in fact, "it's" was usually considered the possessive of "it" -- in the Fall, a tree shed "it's" leaves. The usual contraction of "it is" was "'tis." Only when "'tis" came to be regarded as an archaic form in the 19th century did the use of "it's" as a contraction of "it is" push out the use of "it's" as a possessive. I know this is a bit hard to follow, but the point is that the "rule" used to be the exact opposite of what it is today. And on that note, I move that we adjourn our seminar until next time, when we'll explore a few more holes in the logic surrounding our little friend "it."

In our last excursion together, we began to explore the popular confusion between "it's" as a contraction of "it is" or "it has" ("It's going to rain") and "its" as the possessive form of the pronoun "it" ("A tiger can't change its stripes"). It has become increasingly common to see the two forms confused, not just in everyday use, but also in the news media up to and including The New York Times.

Yet the case for the rule regarding "it's and its," as we noted last time, is not as clear- cut as we might imagine. Until the 19th century, in fact, "it's" was used most commonly as the possessive of "it" -- just the opposite of the current "rule." The contraction of "it is" was usually "'tis," as often heard in Shakespeare's plays. Even after the use of "'tis" faded, "it's" was used for both the possessive and the contraction, and the reader would have to judge which was meant by the context in which it was used. The modern rule regarding "it's," it would seem, is a fairly arbitrary decree.

Another point to consider is that when we are using nouns (as opposed to pronouns), the "apostrophe -s" form is used quite successfully to cover both the contraction and the possessive: "Jane's (Jane is) going to the meeting, but Bob is carrying Jane's (belonging to Jane) notebook." Why, we might ask, shouldn't "it's" follow the same rule, and serve as both possessive and contraction? It would then be up to the reader to judge what is meant by the context, not a terribly difficult task in most cases.

Still, old habits die hard, and most literate people will always find confusion of the two forms annoying, as well they should. The folks confusing "its" with "it's" are not, after all, linguistic revolutionaries fighting for simpler grammar -- they simply don't know the difference. So for the time being, it's probably wise to insist on the difference between the two forms

I am handing that off to Saturn, I wash my hands of this..lol

i thought this thread was about "Star Wars™: The Old Republic™"

Now it's about Op-x, growing up in the Old Republic.

Ahhh, the good old days

Little Brown Handbook.

hehehe

Viddler.com - SWTOR E3 trailer teaser - Uploaded by massively

Viddler.com - SWTOR: Return - Uploaded by massively

thanks friar.....man this looks cool too.  dammit, too many games at once coming!

I just jizzed in my pants.