it'dvsit'sWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“it'd” and “it's” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#5,229
“it'd” frequency rank
#55
“it's” frequency rank
5284
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature it'd it's
Definition Contraction of it + had. Contraction of it + is.

Where the eye mixes it'd and it's

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
it'd
4 ch
it's

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. it'd (/ˈɪtəd/) and it's (/ɪts/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - d in “it'd” becomes s in “it's”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5284, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

it'd is recorded at frequency rank #5,229, classified as acontraction, pronounced /ˈɪtəd/. it's is at rank #55, tagged as acontraction, pronounced /ɪts/.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 5284, this pair ranks #515,914 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of it'd vs it's

Shared letters: it. Private to "it'd": d. Private to "it's": s.

"it'd" · 3 letters · shape VCC  ·  "it's" · 3 letters · shape VCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "it'd" and "it's" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈɪtəd/ versus /ɪts/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "it'd" or "it's"?
"it's" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #55 in our English list, against #5,229 for "it'd". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list