THE USE OF APOSTROPHE

SOURCE:
TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE PUNCTUATION
IN LEGAL WRITING*
© 2005 The Writing Center at GULC. All
Rights Reserved
Punctuation
Mark
THE USE OF APOSTROPHE

Apostrophes are used to indicate

letters missing from words and
to create possessive forms of
nouns.
Reminders in the use of Apostrophe
1. Avoid the use of informal
contractions in formal legal
writing.
Examples: “shouldn’t”; couldn’t; haven’t;
can’t
Reminders in the use of Apostrophe
2. Do not use an apostrophe to form
possessives of pronouns.
Ex: his, hers, its, theirs, ours, yours,
whose
Reminders in the use of Apostrophe
3) Do not use an apostrophe to create a
plural form of a name that ends with an
“s.” Instead add “es” to the word.
Ex: two Robertses on the Court;
four Joneses at the reunion
Reminders in the use of Apostrophe
4) Use an apostrophe in legal writing to form the
plural of a letter, figure or symbol.

What is the plural of Letter C?

C’s
What is the plural of number 7?
7’s
What is the plural of the year 1960?
1960’s
What is the plural of Boeing 767?

Boeing 767’s
Reminders in the use of Apostrophe

5) Apostrophes are used to abbreviate

words in citation sentences.

“Nat’l”
“National” in case citations:
Reminders in the use of Apostrophe
6) Nouns that do not end with “s”

(singular & plural); Add postrophe

.
Examples: alibi of the defendant’s alibi
and “s”
defendantIncome of the family’s income;
family
Guardian of the children’s guardian;
children
Reminders in the use of Apostrophe
7) Plural nouns that end with “s” Add an apostrophe

but not an “s”

Ex: Intent of farmers’ intent
farmers
Rights of workers’ rights
workers
Notice of thirty thirty days’ notice
days
Reminders in the use of Apostrophe
8) Singular nouns that end with “s” it depends
(and style guides differ)
▪ Use the apostrophe plus “s” form (’s) if the resulting
word is not difficult to pronounce.
Ex: Authority of Congress Congress’s authority
Testimony of the witness witness’s testimony

Contract of James James’s contract

▪ If the possessive word is followed by a word beginning

with an “s” sound, creating three “s” sounds together, the
“s” after the apostrophe is dropped for ease in
pronunciation.
Example: Sales of business Business’ sales
Signature of witness Witness’ signature
Reminders in the use of Apostrophe
9) To show possession for two or more nouns:
▪ Use the apostrophe plus “s” (’s) after the last
name only to indicate joint possession.
Ex: stocks of John and John and Mary’s
Mary (stocks jointly stocks
owned by John and
Mary)
▪ Use the apostrophe plus “s” (’s) after each name
to indicate individual possession.
Ex: stocks of John and John’s and Mary’s stocks
Mary (some stocks
owned by John, some
owned by Mary)
Reminders in the use of Apostrophe
• The apostrophe is also used to show the omission of
part of a date.

For example: The Chairman will be up for re-

election
in ’06. (instead of 2006)
However, do not use an apostrophe to show the exclusion of letter in an
abbreviation. For example: Dept. (department) ; No. (number)

Note: Stylistically, the use of contractions

is not recommended for formal writing.
Reminders in the use of Apostrophe
1) Use the apostrophe to designate possession or
ownership. Place the apostrophe before the “s” to
show possession or ownership by one person.

For example: 
The case of my My client’s case
client/ the cases of My client’s cases (one client
my client. has more than one case)
Reminders in the use of Apostrophe
2) To designate possession or ownership by more than
one person, make the noun plural first. Then immediately
use the apostrophe. For example:

one client’s two actresses’ contracts

case
two clients’ cases one child’s guardian

one actress’s contract two children’s guardians

Reminders in the use of Apostrophe
3) However, when using proper nouns (formal names)
ending in “s” or an “s” sound, you may exclude the “s”
that would normally follow the apostrophe.

Singular possession or
ownership
Mercedes-Benz’ trademark
Mercedes-Benz’ trademarks
Plural possession or
ownership
The Joneses’ assets
Reminders in the use of Apostrophe
4) When a noun is formed by several words,
possession or ownership is designated with ’s at the
end of the word as in the example of plural possession
or ownership above.

For example:
• my mother-in-law’s stock portfolio
• the Commander-in-Chief’s mandate
Thank you!

The End