Definition of 'its'
language note: Its is a third person singular possessive determiner.
determiner
You use its to
indicate that something belongs or relates to a thing, place, or animal that has just been
mentioned or whose
identity is
known. You can use its to indicate that something belongs or relates to a
child or
baby.
The British Labor Party concludes its annual conference today in Brighton.
...Japan, with its extreme housing shortage.
The dog lifted its head, listening.
COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
2.
It's been such a long time since I played.
COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Video: pronunciation of
its
Word Frequency
its in British English
determiner
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word Frequency
it's in British English
contraction of
▶ USAGE One of the commonest mistakes made in written English is the confusion of its and it's. You can see examples of this every day in books, magazines, and newspapers: its good for us; a smart case with it's own mirror, and even Cheng, and its' subsidiaries. Its refers to something belonging to or relating to a thing that has already been mentioned:
the baby threw its rattle out of the pram. It's is a shortened way of saying it is or it has (the apostrophe indicates that a letter has been omitted: it's a lovely day; it's been a great weekend.it is or it has
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word Frequency
its in American English
pronoun
1.
possessive pronominal adjective
2.
of, belonging to, made by, or done by it
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Word origin
Early ModE analogical formation < it + ʼs; written it's until early 19th c.: the ME & OE form was hisExample sentences including
its
These examples have been automatically selected and may contain sensitive content.
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Trends of
its
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In other languages
its
British English: its
/ɪts/ DETERMINER
You use its to say that something belongs to a thing or an animal.
The lion lifted its head.
- American English: its
- Arabic: ضَمِيرُ الـمُلْكِيَّةُ لِلْمُفْرَدِ الغَائِبِ غَيْرِ العَاقِلِ
- Brazilian Portuguese: dele
- Chinese: 它的
- Croatian: njegov
- Czech: jeho
- Danish: dens
- Dutch: ervan
- European Spanish: su ello
- Finnish: sen
- French: son possession
- German: sein
- Greek: δικός του ουδέτερο
- Italian: suo
- Japanese: それの
- Korean: 그것의
- Norwegian: dens
- Polish: jego
- European Portuguese: dele
- Romanian: lui
- Russian: свою
- Latin American Spanish: su
- Swedish: dess
- Thai: ของมัน
- Turkish: onun
- Ukrainian: свій
- Vietnamese: của nó
Nearby words of
its
Related terms of
its
Source
Definition of its from the
Collins English Dictionary
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storm or wind?
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wind
storm
throw caution to the
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little
big
twist someone around your finger
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with envy
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calf
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kill the fatted
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the jackpot
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