word choice - What is the best way to explain how to choose between "its" and "it's"?


Probably one of the most frequent grammar mistakes in the English language is:



The dog sat on it's mat.



Since spelling checkers don't catch it, and it is even logical, since you would correctly write:



The dog sat on Fluffy's mat.



What is the best way to explain to a learner of English how to choose between it's and its?



Answer



This is actually really easy, do you mean "it is" or not?


Frankly native speakers seem to make more mistakes with it than foreign learners.


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