Which sentence uses its vs it's correctly?

Which sentence uses its vs it's correctly?

• A. The cat licked its paws.
• B. The cat licked it's paws.
• C. The cat licked its paws, too.
• D. The cat licked its paw.

Answer: (A)

The main idea is using its vs it's correctly to show possession. Its is the possessive determiner for third-person neuter nouns, showing ownership, while it's is a contraction that stands for it is or it has. In the sentence about ownership, the paws belong to the cat, so the correct form is its paws. Using it's would turn the sentence into something like “the cat licked it is paws,” which doesn’t make sense and breaks the intended possessive meaning. The apostrophe in its would signal a contraction or a possessive noun, not the possessive determiner needed here, so that option is incorrect.

The main idea is using its vs it's correctly to show possession. Its is the possessive determiner for third-person neuter nouns, showing ownership, while it's is a contraction that stands for it is or it has.

In the sentence about ownership, the paws belong to the cat, so the correct form is its paws. Using it's would turn the sentence into something like “the cat licked it is paws,” which doesn’t make sense and breaks the intended possessive meaning. The apostrophe in its would signal a contraction or a possessive noun, not the possessive determiner needed here, so that option is incorrect.