Incorrect: Our schools collection included an original set of Blackstone's Commentaries. (来源：英语学习门户 http://www.EnglishCN.com)

　　Incorrect: Our schools' collection included an original set of Blackstone's Commentaries.

　　Correct: Our school's collection included an original set of Blackstone's Commentaries.

　　规则3、In plural possessive terms, place the apostrophe after the "s." This will indicate to the reader that more than one person or thing owns the thing possessed.

　　Incorrect: The students success was largely attributable to their hard work and dedication.

　　Incorrect: The student's success was largely attributable to their hard work and dedication.

　　Correct: The students' success was largely attributable to their hard work and dedication.

　　规则4、How to distinguish "its" and "it's."

　　"It's" is the contraction of "it is," as in the sentence, "It's best not to question the judge's knowledge of the laws of evidence in open court." In formal writing, however, one generally should not use contractions. Thus, the better formulation of the sentence above would be: "It is best not to question the judge's knowledge of the laws of evidence in open court."

　　"Its" is a possessive, as in the sentence, "The truck lost its muffler as it entered the pothole-laden Kennedy Expressway." This is the rare case in which a possessive term does not take an apostrophe.

　　规则5、A less-often faced decision involves the use of apostrophes where multiple owners are named. Where two or more people own one item jointly, place an apostrophe before an "s" only after the second-named person. For example:

　　Incorrect: Bill's and Mary's car was a lemon, leading them to seek rescission of their contract under the state's lemon law.

　　Correct: Bill and Mary's car was a lemon, leading them to seek rescission of their contract under the state's lemon law.

　　However, when two or more people own two or more items separately, each individual's name should take the possessive form. For example:

　　Incorrect: Joanne and Todd's cars were bought from the same dealer; both proved useless, even though Joanne's car was an import and Todd's was a domestic model.

　　Correct: Joanne's and Todd's cars were bought from the same dealer; both proved useless, even though Joanne's car was an import and Todd's was a domestic model.

　　规则6、When creating the possessive form of words ending in "s," use only an apostrophe after the "s" if the word ends in a "z" sound. However, if the word ends in an "s" sound use an apostrophe and an additional "s" to create the possessive.

　　Less Desirable: He was a student in Professor Adams's class.

　　More Desirable: He was a student in Professor Adams' class.

　　However: He was a student in Professor Weiss's class.

　　Cross Reference: Contractions 缩约词，通过省略或结合一个较长短语中的某些音素而形成的词，如从 will not来的 won't，或短语如从 of the clock来的 o'clock。

　　译注：apostrophe

　　省略符号, 撇号(')[用于 ①表示省略, 如:can't, (=can not); '88(=1988) ②表示所有格, 如 boy's; James' ③表示复数, 如two 0's, four 9's ④表示年代, 如the 1980's (读作 the nineteen eighties)20世纪80年代⑤表示一字中的某一音不发, 如: 'lectric (=electric)]

　　三、冠词

　　冠词指“a”，“an”，和“the”。学生常在句子中漏掉冠词，以为这样“高效”或“听起来象律师（说得话）”。但是，漏掉冠词往往写出劣质文章。需要用冠词的时候就用冠词，律师也不能例外。亚洲国家学生在写作时应注意正确使用冠词，因为许多亚洲国家语言没有冠词。

　　1 避免律师的习惯干扰。漏掉冠词并不能使句子更简洁，反而使句子更难懂。不要试图把句子写得“象律师写的那样”。文章最好写得正式，而不是“象律师那样”。

　　Incorrect: Police officer moved evidence to avoid disappearance from crime scene.

　　Correct: The police office moved the evidence to avoid its disappearance from the crime scene.

　　Incorrect: Abrams, officer on duty at time of crime, testified against defendant, Joanna Stone.

　　Correct: Abrams, the officer on duty at the time of the crime, testified against the defendant, Joanna Stone.

　　2 发元音和发辅音。如何选用“a”和“an”。原则很简单：以辅音开头的名词前用a，以元音开头的名词前用“an”。在第三点中将讨论稍难些的问题－如何处理元音发音和辅音发音。

　　Incorrect: The judge had an gavel, and he used it frequently.

　　Correct: The judge had a gavel, and he used it frequently.

　　Incorrect: The judge had a elephant in her courtroom, though nobody noticed.

　　Correct: The judge had an elephant in her courtroom, though nobody noticed.

　　3 元音发音开头和辅音发音开头。

　　有时一个单词以辅音开头，但听起来象以元音开头（即，发元音），这些单词在选用冠词时应被看作是以元音开头。这些单词多以“h”打头（例如hour和 heir），但是如果该辅音发声（发声的辅音），就应象其它辅音一样选用冠词“a”。从而，单词“heir”以元音发音开头，单词“hotel”以辅音发音开头。