its

Its (not to be confused with it’s, a contraction of it is) is the possessive form of the pronoun it.

The pronoun it is commonly used to refer to something without naming it. The plural pronoun they (possessive forms their and theirs) can be used to refer to multiple things in this way, as can the object form them.

There aren’t synonyms for its in the same way that big is a synonym of large. But there are ways that you can say the same thing without using its.

One main way is to use the word that it is replacing.

For example, instead of saying The car has a dent on its hood, you could say There is a dent on the car’s hood. 

You could also use the word of to show possession, as in There is a dent on the hood of the car. 

Most commonly, the word it is used to refer to things. It is sometimes also used to refer to an animal. In some cases, it can refer to an unknown person, such as when someone knocks on the door and you ask “Who is it?”

Sometimes, it’s used to refer to a group of people, as in The judge told the jury it must decide two issues. The possessive form can be used for this sense, as in The judge asked the jury for its verdict. Because its refers to people in this case, it is more common to use their (the possessive form of they), as in The judge asked the jury for their verdict. (Note: Referring to a person as it for any other reason is extremely offensive.)

One other somewhat less common use of its is in constructions like this: I’m sorry about its being so late. In these cases, it’s very common to replace its with it: I’m sorry about it being so late. Or you could reword the sentence to use it’s: I’m sorry it’s so late.