7.1 Apostrophes: Possessives, Contractions & Plurals

AAERT Certified Electronic Transcriber CET

Track your progress as you read

Finished sections get a check mark.

1 Chapter 1: CET Exam Orientation

1.1 The CET Credential, Exam Format & Eligibility 1.2 The Practical Exam Workflow & a Blueprint-Based Study Plan

2 Chapter 2: Ethics, Conflicts of Interest & Confidentiality

2.1 Ethical Obligations & Avoiding the Appearance of Impropriety 2.2 Conflicts of Interest: Recognizing and Handling Them 2.3 Confidentiality, NDAs, File Security & HIPAA

3 Chapter 3: Professional Behavior, Multi-Channel Audio & Equipment

3.1 Professional Behavior: Impartiality, the Accurate Record & Service 3.2 Multi-Channel Recording & How to Play Channels 3.3 Troubleshooting, Technical Escalation & Equipment Maintenance

4 Chapter 4: Proofreading, Spelling, Capitalization & Numbers

4.1 Proofreading vs. Literary Editing & Why Spelling Matters 4.2 Capitalization in a Transcript 4.3 Numbers in a Transcript

5 Chapter 5: [sic], Abbreviations, Clauses & Commas

5.1 [sic] and Abbreviations 5.2 Clauses & the Core Comma Rules 5.3 Commas in Testimony: Address, Introductory Words, Appositives, Series & Tags

6 Chapter 6: End Punctuation, Colons, Semicolons & Quotation Marks

6.1 Periods, Question Marks & Exclamation Points 6.2 Colons & Semicolons 6.3 Quotation Marks in a Transcript

7 Chapter 7: Apostrophes, Dashes, Hyphens, Ellipses, Slashes & Parentheses

7.1 Apostrophes: Possessives, Contractions & Plurals 7.2 Dashes & Hyphens: Interruptions, Breaks and Compounds 7.3 Ellipses, Slashes & Parentheses

8 Chapter 8: Federal Format, Title Page & Index Page

8.1 Federal District Court Format & Page Specifications 8.2 The Title Page 8.3 The Index Page

9 Chapter 9: Proceedings Page, Headers, Certificate & Colloquy

9.1 The Proceedings Page, Calls to Order & Page Headers 9.2 The Transcriber's Certificate 9.3 Colloquy, Question-and-Answer Format & Paragraphing

10 Chapter 10: Oaths, Parentheticals, Exhibits & Special Procedures

10.1 Swearing Witnesses, Parenthetical Notations & Exhibits 10.2 Quoted Material, Words Spelled on the Record & Italics for Non-English Words 10.3 Strikes, Playbacks, Recordings Played, Asides & Sidebars

11 Chapter 11: Special Designations, Interpreters, Remote Jobs & Verbatim Rules

11.1 Certified Questions, Redactions & Confidential Designations 11.2 Interpreters, Videographers & Remote Proceedings 11.3 Verbatim Transcription: Tics, Substantive Words & Chopped-Down Speech

12 Chapter 12: Interruptions, Indiscernible Speech & Transcriber Judgment Calls

12.1 Interruptions, Indiscernible Speech & Nonverbal Responses 12.2 Log Notes, Case Information, the Court Reporter & Judgment Calls on Names and Speakers

13 Chapter 13: Page Estimates, Originals & Copies, Drafts & Research

13.1 Page Estimates, Original vs. Copy & Rough and Expedited Transcripts 13.2 References, Internet Research & Understanding the Case

14 Chapter 14: Proceedings, Case Types & the Life Cycle of a Case

14.1 Types of Proceedings & Federal Read and Sign 14.2 Types of Cases & the Order of Court and Non-Court Proceedings 14.3 The Life Cycle of a Case

15 Chapter 15: Parties, Legal Documents, Jurisdiction & Venue

15.1 Parties, Participants & Types of Witnesses 15.2 Reading Legal Documents & Using the Docket 15.3 Jurisdiction, Venue & Civil vs. Criminal Proceedings

16 Chapter 16: Case Law, Citations & Jury Selection

16.1 Case Law & the Elements of a Case Citation 16.2 Jury Selection (Voir Dire) & Bench vs. Jury Trials

17 Chapter 17: Legal & Latin Terminology

17.1 Legal Terminology I: Pleadings, Motions, Orders & Procedure 17.2 Legal Terminology II: Evidence, Objections, Rulings & Trial Terms 17.3 Latin Terminology I: Procedure, Courts & Parties 17.4 Latin Terminology II: Doctrine, Evidence & Criminal Law

18 Chapter 18: Medical Terminology

18.1 Medical Terminology I: Word Parts, Directions & Anatomy 18.2 Medical Terminology II: Conditions, Procedures, Medications & Sound-Alikes

7.1 Apostrophes: Possessives, Contractions & Plurals

Key Takeaways Explain This Topic AI

Singular nouns take 's, including most names ending in s (Mr. Jones's car); plural nouns ending in s take only an apostrophe (the witnesses' statements).

"Plaintiff's Exhibit 1" belongs to one plaintiff; AAERT's sample index uses "PLAINTIFFS' OPENING STATEMENT" for a case with two plaintiffs.

Contractions and clipped words are transcribed as spoken (didn't, 'til, ma'am); a transcriber never expands them.

Plurals of numbers and capital-letter abbreviations take no apostrophe (the 1990s, three DUIs), while it's means "it is" and its is possessive.

Last updated: September 2026

Blueprint topic 20208 asks you to identify the correct usage of an apostrophe in a sentence. Apostrophes do two jobs: they show possession , and they mark letters left out of a contraction or clipped word.

Possessives

Noun Rule Example
Singular add 's the witness's answer , the officer's report
Singular ending in s usually add 's (Merriam-Webster and Chicago style) Mr. Jones's car , the bus's driver
Plural ending in s add ' only the witnesses' statements , the Joneses' house
Plural not ending in s add 's the children's rooms , the women's testimony
Compound noun on the last word my brother-in-law's truck

AP style drops the extra s after singular proper names ending in s ( Jones' car ). Transcript style sheets usually follow Merriam-Webster and Chicago. Whatever you choose, use one style throughout a transcript.

Joint vs. separate possession

Joint (one thing owned together): apostrophe on the last name only: Smith and Brown's partnership .

Separate (each owns their own): apostrophe on each: Smith's and Brown's cars .

Parties, exhibits and headings

The number of plaintiffs or defendants decides the apostrophe:

one plaintiff: Plaintiff's Exhibit 1 ; PLAINTIFF'S OPENING STATEMENT ;

two or more plaintiffs: Plaintiffs' Exhibit 1 ; AAERT's sample index, for a case with two named plaintiffs, reads PLAINTIFFS' OPENING STATEMENT and DEFENDANTS' OPENING STATEMENT .

Check the caption before typing exhibit and heading possessives.

Descriptive names without apostrophes

Some official names drop the apostrophe: Veterans Affairs , Teachers College . Use the organization's official form.

Time and money possessives

a week's notice , two weeks' notice , a day's pay , five dollars' worth .

Possessive pronouns never take apostrophes

his, hers, its, ours, yours, theirs, whose .

its = possessive: The company changed its name.

it's = it is or it has : It's a Glock.

whose = possessive; who's = who is .

their = possessive; they're = they are ; there = place.

Contractions and clipped words

Transcribe contractions exactly as spoken . Never expand didn't to did not , or the reverse. The Guide to Judiciary Policy lists contractions among the things that "must be transcribed as spoken."

I'm , didn't , wasn't , should've , y'all , ma'am

Clipped words with the apostrophe where letters are missing: AAERT's Scalini key writes I stay 'til four or five-ish . Other examples: 'cause , 'em , goin' (styles vary on the last; see Chapter 11 on chopped-down speech).

Omitted digits in years: the '90s . The apostrophe points toward the missing digits, not an opening single quote.

Note the difference between 'til (clipped until ) and till , which is a full word of its own meaning until . Both are acceptable spellings for the spoken word, but 'til shows the clipped pronunciation the Scalini key recorded.

Plurals: no apostrophe

Do not use an apostrophe to make a plural:

Plural of Correct Wrong
Decades and years the 1990s , the '90s the 1990's
Capital-letter abbreviations three DUIs , the CEUs , MRIs DUI's , MRI's
Numbers in the 20s , size 10s 20's
Family names the Scalinis the Scalini's

Exceptions use an apostrophe to prevent misreading: lowercase letters and some capital letters, such as dot your i's , she got all A's .

Apostrophes that are not possessives or contractions

Names such as O'Brien and D'Angelo keep the apostrophe that is part of the name. Copy them from the case information or appearances.

Ma'am and o'clock are fixed forms.

Single quotation marks around a quote inside a quote look like apostrophes but are quotation marks (Chapter 6).

Possessives you will hear in court

Courtroom speech produces a few possessive patterns again and again:

Spoken Transcript Why
"the Court's ruling" the Court's ruling singular possessive of the Court
"the State's witness" the State's witness singular party
"the defendants' motion" (two defendants, one joint motion) the defendants' motion plural possessive

"Government Exhibit 3" Government Exhibit 3 many courts use the party name as a label, not a possessive; follow the words and the exhibit sticker

"I object to counsel's characterizing the evidence" counsel's characterizing possessive before a gerund (a verb used as a noun)

"a year's probation" a year's probation time possessive

When a speaker says a party name as a label ("Government Exhibit 3") rather than a possessive ("the Government's Exhibit 3"), type what was said.

Practice

Punctuate each spoken sentence:

the witnesses statements were taken by the officers partner (two witnesses, one officer)

→ The witnesses' statements were taken by the officer's partner.

its been two weeks notice and the company still hasnt changed its policy → It's been two weeks' notice, and the company still hasn't changed its policy.

the Joneses attorney filed three DUI motions in the 90s → The Joneses' attorney filed three DUI motions in the '90s.

whos car was parked in Mr. Harris driveway → Whose car was parked in Mr. Harris's driveway?

Quick check

Is the word showing ownership? Use a possessive.

Is it a pronoun? No apostrophe ( its , theirs ).

Is it just a plural? No apostrophe.

Are letters missing? Put the apostrophe where they were.