its
/ɪts/determiner, pronoun, noun
its is spelled I-T-S: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 1,380 times per million words in written English, the 78th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “it's vs its” about 49,500 times a month (Google, United States). As a determiner, its means “Belonging to it” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in its?
| Letters | 3: I-T-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1,380 times per million words; the 78th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is its?
Its appears 1,380 times per million words in written English, the 78th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce its?
- /ɪts/
- US /ɪʔ.s/
Its has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-its.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with its
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: it's (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with its?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as its.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: sit, tis, ist.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of its
- it's
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does its mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
determiner
- 1
Belonging to it.
That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land. (originally "of it own accord" in the 1611 first edition)
pronoun
- 1
The one (or ones) belonging to it.
… both Houses have resolved to rob the North of a good friend of its and yours.
noun
- 1
plural of it
noun
- 1
Initialism of issue tracking system.
- 2
Initialism of intelligent transportation system.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Its in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | son, sa, ses , le sien, la sienne, les siens |
| German | sein, ihr |
| Portuguese | seu, sua, dele, dela |
| Spanish | su, sus, de él, de ella, de ello, del mismo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does its come from?
Equivalent to it + -s (possessive marker). From the earlier form it's (it + -'s), which is now considered nonstandard. Began to displace his as the possessive of the neuter pronoun in the Middle English period; had fully displaced it by the 1700s.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).