words that sound alike: its, it’s

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Its, It's

• its = possessive adjective (possessive form of the
  pronoun “it”):  The crab had an unusual growth on its shell.
• it's = contraction for “it is” or “it has” (in a verb phrase): It's still raining, and it's been raining for three days.

(Pronouns have apostrophes only when two words are being shortened into one.)

Source:  Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL).