ACT English: Master Its/It's, Their/They're/There Once and For All

Pair 1: Its (possessive pronoun, no apostrophe) vs It's (contraction of "it is"). Example: "The car lost its wheel" (possessive). "It's raining" (it is raining). Memory trick: If you can replace the word with "it is," use it's. Otherwise, use its. Pair 2: Their (possessive pronoun) vs They're (contraction of "they are") vs There (location/direction). Example: "Their house is over there" (possessive + location). "They're moving tomorrow" (they are). Memory trick: Their has "heir" in it—suggests ownership. They're sounds like "they are." There sounds like "here" but with a T—location. Pair 3: To (direction/purpose) vs Too (also/excessive) vs Two (the number 2). Example: "I want to go too, but I have two essays." Memorize the memory tricks and apply them instantly when you see these words on the ACT.

On the ACT, these appear in almost every passage. Train yourself to spot them, pause, and apply the rule before moving on.

When you see its/it's, they're/their/there, or to/too/two: (1) Pause and identify which pair it is. (2) Apply your memory trick. (3) Replace the word with the expanded form (if it's a contraction) or check if it's possessive/location/number. (4) Verify the sentence makes sense. Example: "The dog wagged it's tail." Pause → it's/its pair → "it is tail"? No, that's nonsense. Switch to its (possessive). "The dog wagged its tail." Correct. This four-step routine takes ten seconds and prevents careless errors that cost easy points.

During every practice test, flag every instance of these pairs. Mark whether the passage used it correctly. After one week, you'll notice your accuracy skyrocket because you're trained to spot them.

1. The company announced ___ new policy. (its/it's). Answer: its. 2. ___ going to be late for ___ appointment. (They're/Their/There). Answer: They're, their. 3. I want ___ join you ___. (to/too/two). Answer: to, too. 4. The cat cleaned ___ paws. (it's/its). Answer: its. 5. The students put ___ books over ___. (there/their/they're). Answer: their, there. After each answer, write the memory trick you used to decide.

Drill: Every day this week, write three sentences—one using each pair correctly. Read them aloud to cement the distinctions in your ear.

The ACT tests these pairs because they're commonly confused. If you master them, you eliminate a major source of errors. Each passage has 1-2 instances of these homophones or near-homophones. If you catch them all, you gain 1-2 easy points per passage. Over five passages, that's 5-10 points—a significant boost. These errors are entirely preventable with the right routine, making them high-value targets for your ACT preparation.

Spend three days on this topic. By test day, spotting these should be automatic, and you won't lose points to careless mistakes.