its

\ɪts\

/\ɪts\/ det

The verdict

“its” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #15,916 in French word frequency and used as a determiner.

#15,916
frequency rank, French
3
letters
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Son, sa (lorsque c’est une chose qui possède).

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

its vs ix
33% similar
its vs iu
33% similar
its vs IVG
0% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for its
PropertyValue
Headwordits
LanguageFrench
Part of speechDeterminer
IPA\ɪts\
Letters3
Frequency rank#15,916
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “its” sits in French frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). its lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for its is 3 letters long, classified as a determiner, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ɪts\. Corpus data places it at rank #15,916 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Son, sa (lorsque c’est une chose qui possède).".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for its, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ix", "iu", "IVG", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is its, spelled I-T-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Son, sa (lorsque c’est une chose qui possède).

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "its"?
"its" is spelled I-T-S. The IPA pronunciation is \ɪts\.
What does "its" mean?
As a determiner, "its" means: Son, sa (lorsque c’est une chose qui possède).
What words are commonly confused with "its"?
"its" is commonly confused with "ix", "iu", "IVG". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "its"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "its" is \ɪts\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "its" come from?
"its" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “its”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is I-T-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \ɪts\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “ix” - see the side-by-side comparison. its vs ix
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list