Its and It's

Many people find this to be the most confusing apostrophe rule to remember. Mostly that is because an apostrophe followed by an "s" is used to show ownership when it follows a proper name. I will give you that much. But the rule is actually very simple, so stop whining. It goes a little something like this:

Use IT'S whenever you can say IT IS instead.
Use ITS whenever you can't.

Gee, HOW complicated. Let's look at some examples:

I am going to have a drink right now because IT'S after 10 a.m. somewhere! This works because I could also say, I am going to have a drink right now because IT IS after 10 a.m. somewhere!

Let's consider this sentence: At around 9:30 a.m., her alcoholism reared IT'S ugly head. This would be INCORRECT because you would not ever say, ...her alcoholism reared IT IS ugly head. At least I hope you wouldn't, because otherwise, we are in bigger trouble than I thought.

IT'S pretty easy, right? Even the lizard sunning ITSelf on my patio can wrap ITS mind around the concept, so I feel confident that you can too!