ih/ɪ/
Drop your jaw slightly with relaxed lips. Touch the tongue tip behind the bottom front teeth and arch the top-front toward the roof.
How to pronounce its in American English
ihts
Start here
Americans pronounce its as ihts (/ɪts/). In fast speech, the vowel in "its" vanishes — the "ih" is completely elided, leaving only a quick "ts" cluster — this is a feature of casual, connected speech; in careful speech, the vowel is retained. This is called the Short Contractions (it's, that's), how Americans collapse little words. It comes out as ihts. You'll hear it in sentences like "It's a small world after all" or "It's a beautiful day, isn't it?" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "its".
1 syllable, 3 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
t/t/
Touch the tip or front edge of your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Keep your jaw relaxed. Stop the air, then release with a puff.
s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
In real conversation
Hear "its" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Although it's difficult, it's worth doing."
ahl·DHOH ihts DIH·fuh·kuhlt ihts WURTH DOO·uhng
"Everyone agrees that it's a sad ending."
EHV·ree·wuhn uh·GREEZ dhuht ihts uh SAD EHN·duhng
"He criticized the film for its slow pacing and lack of character development."
hee KRIH·duh·sahyzd dhuh FIHLM fer ihts SLOH PAY·suhng and LAK uhv KEH·ruhk·ter duh·VEH·luhp·muhnt
"He's going to put on a jacket because it's cold."
heez GOH·uhng tuh PUUT AHN uh JA·kuht buh·KUHZ ihts KOHLD
"I still think it's a really good deal."
ahy STIHL thihngk ihts uh REE·lee GUUD DEEL
"I'll send you the report when it's done."
ahyl SEHND yuh dhuh ruh·PORT wehn ihts DUHN
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Questions
Questions people ask about this.
Is the American pronunciation of "its" different from British English?
American English uses different vowel shapes, a relaxed retroflex R, and connected-speech tricks like flap-T and glottal-stop T that British Received Pronunciation generally avoids. The respell "ihts" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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