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its

its

∞ 1.0
Put before a noun to show something belongs to a thing, animal, or group mentioned earlier
  • determiner
  • /ɪts/
: su
  • Each company has its own set of rules and procedures.

Once they cut the tree off from its roots dead.

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Examples

  • Because they really do, like a dog chasing its tail, affect each other.

  • Let's get this little robot all set up to start its cleaning.

  • And I think that that that comes with its own set of challenges.

  • And so a gay bar opens its doors on the weekend.

  • So each crossing is kept if all four of its endpoints are kept.

  • It's the wish and the desire to continue its persistence.

  • Consciousness plays no part in its free realization.

  • Kind of prepping this vessel for its new plant.

  • The Byzantine Empire with its headquarters in Constantinople.

  • The cat is grooming its fur after playing outside.

Idioms

19 1.3

In the way of a moving thing that can hit or damage things

16 6.5

To make a person, company or system stop working

16 3.3

Something is at its strongest, most successful, or most intense

Make people see something in a very different way

To be important or good without help from someone else

on its merits
  • Formal
13 6.2

People judge a thing by its own facts and qualities, not by reputation

To permanently stop operating as a business or organization

A time when something looks very beautiful and impressive

Decide something about a person or thing by how they look

7 7.0

To be good sometimes even if not overall

5 5.6

In a way that changes someone or something very deeply and completely

An animal that stands on its back legs to see or reach something

No longer at its best or in good condition

A person or thing that is much weaker and less impressive than before

1 7.5

To keep doing the same task without getting anywhere

To end something completely so it cannot continue

To show its history without using words

Out of date and not keeping up with current ideas

A door or window that hangs loosely because its supports are broken

1 9.9

To become involved in a messy situation and make it worse

A unique thing or event that will never happen again

To let strong, uncontrolled feelings make your life worse

To become larger and hard to control as it spreads beyond where it started

To change a situation completely and suddenly

up on its ear
  • Informal
9.8

People or places in confusion and disorder after a big change

Surface Forms

its singular

Morphology

its = it (transparent) = it + s

The form is the regular possessive realization of 'it', so the connection between base pronoun and meaning is straightforward.

Etymology

Its is the possessive form of it, made by adding the short -s that shows 'belonging to'. Think of it like Sam's or the dog's, but for a thing or animal, so its means 'belonging to it'.