The apostrophe: what's not to love?

Why do people have so much trouble with the apostrophe? Maybe it’s because it’s used for both possession and contraction. The most vexing problem is knowing whether to use ITS or IT'S:

Possession:

Mine
Yours
His
Hers
Its
Theirs

There are no apostrophes in any of these possessive pronouns, including “its”.

Confusion arises because we know that apostrophes ARE used for possession, as in "Carolyn's cat". But the pronouns above have possession as their MEANING, so apostrophes are not required for them.

Contraction:

You’re (you are)
They’re (they are)
We’re (we are)
I’ve (I have)
Can’t (can not)
That’s (that is)
It’s (it is or it has)

There are apostrophes in every contraction, including “it’s”.

It’s a lovely day for punctuation!

What’s that? It’s a cat with its tail missing!

Here's a quick summary for I-T-S:

It’s = it is or it has (a contraction)

Its = belonging to it (possession)

Its’ = always incorrect (a mistake)

I hope this helps you love the apostrophe a little bit more. Please let me know by leaving a comment.