It’s Self or Itself? The Complete Guide

Itself is the standard form and a reflexive pronoun in English grammar. It refers back to the subject of a sentence and follows standard grammar rules, grammatical rules, syntax, and sentence structure. The common question about itself and its self usually comes from spelling confusion, but the difference matters because it can affect meaning and clarity. Its self is an alternative form that is rare and mainly appears in a special context, such as philosophical writing or stylistic writing. In normal English, itself is the correct form and right word.

In my experience with writing and editing, this language distinction causes common mistakes when people focus on word structure instead of grammatical context. Writers, editors, teachers, and professionals generally use itself in formal writing, academic writing, business writing, and technical writing because it follows standard English, proper usage, and correct usage. Its self may occur as a nonstandard expression when “self” has a separate meaning or a deliberate stylistic purpose. This makes the context important when deciding which form fits.

To understand and use the rule, check the subject, meaning, and sentence structure. Good pronoun usage supports accurate sentence construction and grammatical structure. This simple application can reduce mistake patterns, improve grammar habits, and strengthen writing skills, writing precision, writing clarity, and grammatical accuracy. Whether you’re a student, professional, or someone discussing grammar online, choose itself confidently in ordinary English grammar. Careful word choice, spacing, and word spacing also improve clear communication.

It’s Self or Itself: Which One Is Correct?

When you mean the reflexive pronoun, itself is the correct spelling.

Itself is one word. It doesn’t contain an apostrophe.

Consider these examples:

• The cat cleaned itself.
• The computer restarted itself.
• The company defended itself against the allegations.
• The door opened itself.
• The software updates itself automatically.

In each sentence, itself refers back to the subject.

By contrast, it’s is a contraction. It normally means either it is or it has.

For example:

• It’s raining. → It is raining.
• It’s finished. → It is finished.
• It’s been repaired. → It has been repaired.

Therefore, you can’t normally use it’s self as another spelling of itself.

Is “It’s Self” Wrong?

If you’re trying to write the reflexive pronoun, yes, “it’s self” is incorrect in standard modern English.

For example:

• ❌ The robot repaired it’s self.
• ✅ The robot repaired itself.

However, there’s an important detail. The sequence “it’s self” can theoretically occur when it’s actually means it is and self functions as a separate noun. That’s a very different grammatical construction and isn’t the ordinary way English speakers use the reflexive pronoun.

For everyday writing, business communication, academic work, and general conversation, use itself when you mean the thing itself or an action directed back toward it.

What Does “Itself” Mean?

Itself is the reflexive and intensive form associated with the pronoun it.

The word generally has two major functions.

Itself as a Reflexive Pronoun

A reflexive pronoun refers back to the subject of a clause.

For example:

The dog scratched itself.

Here, the dog performs the action and itself refers back to the dog.

The same pattern appears in:

• The child hurt himself.
• The woman introduced herself.
• The machine damaged itself.
• The company represented itself in court.

The reflexive pronoun changes according to the subject.

Subject	Reflexive Pronoun	Example
I	myself	I taught myself.
You	yourself	You prepared yourself.
He	himself	He introduced himself.
She	herself	She introduced herself.
It	itself	It repaired itself.
We	ourselves	We prepared ourselves.
You	yourselves	You prepared yourselves.
They	themselves	They introduced themselves.

This pattern makes itself easier to remember. It is simply the reflexive counterpart of it.

Itself as an Intensive Pronoun

“Itself” doesn’t always receive an action. Sometimes it simply adds emphasis.

Compare these two sentences:

• The company announced the change.
• The company itself announced the change.

The first sentence gives you the basic fact. The second emphasizes the company, perhaps to distinguish it from an employee, spokesperson, or third party.

More examples include:

• The building itself isn’t the problem.
• The product itself works well.
• The evidence itself raises several questions.
• The proposal itself is reasonable.

You can often remove the intensive pronoun without destroying the basic grammar:

The product itself works well.

becomes:

The product works well.

That removal test can help you recognize an emphatic use of itself.

It’s vs. Its vs. Itself

These three forms cause much of the confusion.

Word	Function	Meaning	Example
it’s	Contraction	it is or it has	It’s ready.
its	Possessive determiner	Belonging to or associated with it	The company changed its policy.
itself	Reflexive/intensive pronoun	Refers back to it or adds emphasis	The machine fixed itself.

A simple substitution test can solve most mistakes.

The “It Is” or “It Has” Test

Whenever you’re unsure about it’s, replace it with it is or it has.

If the sentence still makes sense, it’s is probably correct.

For example:

It’s getting late.

Replace it:

It is getting late.

The sentence works. Therefore, it’s is correct.

Try another:

It’s been a difficult week.

Replace it:

It has been a difficult week.

Again, it works.

Now look at this sentence:

The company changed it’s policy.

Replace it’s with it is:

The company changed it is policy.

That doesn’t work.

The correct sentence is:

The company changed its policy.

The Possession Test for “Its”

Its shows possession or association.

Examples:

• The dog wagged its tail.
• The company updated its website.
• The tree lost its leaves.
• The computer exceeded its storage limit.
• The organization revised its guidelines.

Notice the difference:

The computer lost its data.

The data belongs to or is associated with the computer.

The computer repaired itself.

The computer performed the action on itself.

That distinction is crucial.

Itself vs. Its: What’s the Difference?

The difference becomes clearer when you place the words side by side.

The robot damaged its arm.

Here, its describes the arm. The arm belongs to the robot.

The robot damaged itself.

Here, itself refers back to the robot. The robot damaged the robot.

One small word changes the entire grammatical relationship.

Consider another example:

• The company protected its reputation.
• The company protected itself from criticism.

In the first sentence, the reputation belongs to the company.

In the second, the company itself receives the action.

A Useful Comparison

Sentence	What the word does
The dog hurt its paw.	Its identifies the dog’s paw.
The dog hurt itself.	Itself refers back to the dog.
The machine damaged its casing.	Its shows association/possession.
The machine damaged itself.	Itself refers back to the machine.

When you see this distinction in context, the difference is much easier to remember.

How to Use “Itself” Correctly

Itself as the Object of a Verb

The most familiar use occurs when something performs an action on itself.

Examples:

• The cat washed itself.
• The machine shut itself down.
• The program deleted itself.
• The door locked itself.
• The system reset itself.

In each case, the subject and the object refer to the same entity.

A useful grammatical pattern is:

Subject + verb + itself

For example:

The system + restarted + itself.

The system performs the action, and the action returns to the system.

Itself After a Preposition

You will also see itself after prepositions.

Common combinations include:

• by itself
• in itself
• for itself
• of itself
• to itself

The meaning depends on the surrounding phrase.

For example:

The computer restarted by itself.

Here, by itself means without someone manually restarting it.

Another example:

The idea isn’t harmful in itself.

Here, in itself means considered on its own, without other surrounding factors.

“By Itself”

By itself can mean alone, independently, or without outside assistance.

Examples:

• The child can’t lift the box by itself.
• The software installed by itself.
• The machine operates by itself after setup.
• The door opened by itself during the night.

Context determines whether the phrase means literal independence or simply a lack of assistance.

“In Itself”

The phrase in itself often means considered separately from everything else.

For example:

The technology isn’t dangerous in itself.

The speaker isn’t saying the technology can never create danger. Instead, the sentence separates the technology from the circumstances surrounding its use.

Another example:

Making a mistake isn’t a failure in itself.

The mistake is being considered on its own rather than as part of a larger pattern.

Itself for Emphasis

Sometimes itself adds emphasis without functioning as the direct object.

Consider:

The evidence is important.

Now compare:

The evidence itself is important.

The second version highlights the evidence specifically.

You might use this structure when comparing an original source with commentary about that source:

The report itself doesn’t make that claim.

The word itself tells the reader that the report’s actual contents matter, rather than someone’s interpretation of it.

This construction appears frequently in professional, academic, legal, and analytical writing.

Examples of Emphatic “Itself”

• The proposal itself isn’t unreasonable.
• The product itself performs well.
• The data itself tells a different story.
• The building itself survived the storm.
• The problem itself is relatively simple.

The emphasis can be subtle, but it often adds precision.

Itself in Common Expressions

Certain phrases containing itself occur regularly in natural English.

By Itself

Meaning: alone or without assistance.

The device can operate by itself.

In Itself

Meaning: considered independently.

The decision isn’t unusual in itself.

For Itself

This can describe something acting or existing independently.

The organization needs to speak for itself.

Of Itself

This construction often appears in formal writing and can mean naturally or independently.

The problem won’t disappear of itself.

Speaks for Itself

This idiomatic phrase means something provides enough evidence or explanation without additional argument.

The sales figures speak for themselves.

With a singular thing, itself can appear:

The result speaks for itself.

The phrase is useful because it communicates confidence without adding unnecessary explanation.

Itself vs. It: Why the Difference Matters

It and itself aren’t interchangeable.

Compare:

The machine stopped it.

This means the machine stopped something else called it.

Now consider:

The machine stopped itself.

This means the machine stopped its own operation.

That tiny change creates a completely different meaning.

Another example:

The company blamed it.

The company blamed another person, organization, event, or thing identified by it.

The company blamed itself.

The company accepted responsibility for its own actions.

Reflexive pronouns therefore aren’t decorative. They can fundamentally change who performs an action and who receives it.

Common “It’s Self” and “Itself” Mistakes

Mistake: Writing “It’s Self” as the Reflexive Pronoun

Incorrect:

The robot repaired it’s self.

Correct:

The robot repaired itself.

Why? Because itself is the established reflexive pronoun.

Mistake: Confusing “Its” With “It’s”

Incorrect:

The company changed it’s website.

Correct:

The company changed its website.

The website belongs to or is associated with the company.

The apostrophe in it’s doesn’t mark possession. That’s an important point because apostrophes often indicate possession with nouns, such as Sarah’s book. Pronouns follow different patterns.

Mistake: Using “Itself” Instead of “Its”

Incorrect:

The company updated itself website.

Correct:

The company updated its website.

The company owns or controls the website. The website isn’t receiving an action from the company itself.

Mistake: Using “Itself” Without a Clear Reference

Reflexive pronouns normally need a clear antecedent.

Consider:

The decision affected itself.

That sentence sounds unnatural because the relationship isn’t clear.

A clearer construction might be:

The decision affected the organization itself.

Now itself clearly refers to the organization.

Always ask: What does “itself” refer to?

If the answer isn’t obvious, rewrite the sentence.

Can “It’s Self” Ever Be Correct?

This question deserves a nuanced answer.

In ordinary modern English, “it’s self” isn’t the standard form of the reflexive pronoun. If the intended meaning is the thing itself, write itself.

However, the sequence can appear in unusual contexts when it’s means it is and self functions independently as a noun.

That distinction matters because English sometimes places words next to each other that happen to resemble a single word.

For everyday writing, though, there’s little reason to use it’s self when the intended meaning is reflexive.

Use:

itself

rather than:

it’s self

A Special Case: “It’s Self-Explanatory”

Here’s an example that can fool even careful writers:

It’s self-explanatory.

This sentence is correct.

Why?

Because it’s means it is:

It is self-explanatory.

Meanwhile, self-explanatory is an adjective beginning with the prefix self-.

The sentence doesn’t contain the reflexive construction it’s self.

Compare these two sentences:

• It’s self-explanatory. ✅
• The machine repaired it’s self. ❌

The first sentence contains it’s + the compound adjective self-explanatory.

The second incorrectly attempts to use it’s self as the reflexive pronoun.

This distinction is especially useful when proofreading.

Itself for Organizations, Animals, and Objects

English frequently uses itself with things that aren’t people.

Organizations

American English commonly treats an organization as a singular entity.

For example:

The company defended itself against the lawsuit.

Here, itself refers to the company.

Machines and Technology

Technical writing uses itself frequently because automated systems can perform actions without direct human input.

Examples:

• The server restarted itself.
• The application updates itself automatically.
• The device shuts itself down when the battery becomes critically low.
• The software checks itself for errors.

These constructions are completely natural.

Animals

English can use itself for animals when the animal’s sex isn’t specified or isn’t important.

For example:

The bird cleaned itself after the storm.

If the speaker knows the bird is female and wants to identify it as such, herself may be more appropriate in that context.

Pronoun choice depends on the intended reference and the conventions of the situation.

Common Phrases With “Itself”

Here are several useful expressions worth remembering:

Expression	Typical meaning	Example
by itself	alone/without help	The system runs by itself.
in itself	considered alone	The idea isn’t bad in itself.
for itself	independently/on its own behalf	The company must speak for itself.
of itself	naturally or independently	The problem won’t disappear of itself.
speaks for itself	needs no further explanation	The evidence speaks for itself.
take care of itself	function without assistance	The system can take care of itself.
distinguish itself	become notably different	The brand distinguished itself from competitors.

Learning these expressions helps you recognize itself naturally instead of treating it as an isolated grammar rule.

Real-World Examples of “Itself”

Everyday English

The dog opened the gate by itself.

The child accidentally locked itself out.

The door closed itself after the wind picked up.

Business Writing

The company must distinguish itself from its competitors.

The organization needs to protect itself from unnecessary risk.

The brand itself has become valuable.

Academic Writing

The theory itself doesn’t explain the observed results.

The phenomenon can reproduce itself under certain conditions.

The method in itself isn’t problematic.

Technical Writing

The application updates itself automatically.

The device shuts itself down when overheating occurs.

The system can diagnose itself before contacting the server.

These examples demonstrate why itself appears across many types of writing. The underlying grammar remains the same.

Read More: Oftentimes vs. Often Times: The Ultimate Guide

Itself vs. It’s Self: A Practical Decision Guide

When you’re stuck, use this quick process.

First, ask what you mean.

If you mean it is or it has, use it’s.

It’s ready.
It’s been repaired.

If you mean possession or association, use its.

The machine lost its power.

If you mean that an action refers back to it, use itself.

The machine repaired itself.

The Three-Question Test

Ask yourself:

1. Can I replace the word with “it is” or “it has”?
   → Use it’s.
2. Does the word show possession or association?
   → Use its.
3. Does the word refer back to the subject or add emphasis to it?
   → Use itself.

This simple test handles most everyday cases.

It’s, Its, and Itself: Final Comparison

Meaning	Correct form	Example
It is	it’s	It’s difficult.
It has	it’s	It’s already happened.
Belonging to it	its	The company changed its name.
Referring back to it	itself	The company defended itself.
Emphasizing it	itself	The company itself made the decision.

The apostrophe is the key visual warning sign.

It’s contains an apostrophe because it represents a contraction.

Its doesn’t contain an apostrophe because it’s the possessive form.

Itself doesn’t contain an apostrophe because it’s a single reflexive pronoun.

FAQs:

Is “itself” one word?

Yes. Itself is normally written as one word.

The machine fixed itself.

Don’t split the reflexive pronoun into it’s self.

Is “itself” a pronoun?

Yes. Itself functions as a reflexive pronoun and can also function as an intensive pronoun.

Does “itself” have an apostrophe?

No. The correct spelling is itself, not it’s self.

Which is correct: “by itself” or “by it’s self”?

By itself is the standard form.

The computer restarted by itself.

What is the difference between “its” and “itself”?

Its shows possession or association.

The dog moved its tail.

Itself refers back to the dog.

The dog injured itself.

What is the difference between “it’s” and “itself”?

It’s means it is or it has.

Itself refers back to it or emphasizes it.

It’s broken.

The machine repaired itself.

Can “itself” refer to an animal?

Yes. English can use itself for an animal when its sex isn’t specified or isn’t relevant.

The kitten cleaned itself.

When a particular animal is treated with a gendered pronoun, himself or herself may be used instead.

Can “itself” refer to a company?

Yes. A company can take the singular pronoun it in standard American English.

The company defended itself.

Is “it’s self-explanatory” correct?

Yes.

In “It’s self-explanatory,” it’s means it is. Self-explanatory is a separate compound adjective.

It’s self-explanatory.
= It is self-explanatory.

That’s completely different from incorrectly writing “it’s self” when you mean itself.

The Bottom Line: It’s Self or Itself?

When the intended meaning is the reflexive pronoun, the answer is straightforward:

Use “itself.”

The machine repaired itself.

The company defended itself.

The system restarted itself.

Don’t write “it’s self” as an alternative spelling of the reflexive pronoun.

Keep the three forms separate:

• It’s = it is or it has
• Its = possession or association
• Itself = reflexive or emphatic reference

The easiest memory trick is equally simple: if you mean that “it” does something to “it,” choose “itself.”

Once that distinction clicks, the confusion largely disappears. A quick substitution test for it’s, followed by a possession check for its, will usually point you to the right word.

Conclusion:

The difference between itself and its self is simple once you understand the rule. In standard English grammar, itself is the correct reflexive pronoun and the form you’ll use in most sentences. Its self is rare and usually appears only when “self” has a separate meaning.

Remembering this distinction can help you avoid common grammar mistakes and improve your writing clarity. Whether you’re writing casually, academically, or professionally, choose itself when you need the standard form.