Apostrophes and Possessives in Title Case
Apostrophes can mark possession, contractions, or omitted initial letters, and those uses should not be confused with quotation marks. Chicago also has specific title-case examples for initial-apostrophe contractions and for the compound form “O’Clock.”
Preserve possessive and contracting apostrophes. Capitalize the underlying title word according to its role; an apostrophe does not automatically make the token an embedded quotation.
Key details
Important caveats
Automation boundary
This guide explicitly distinguishes internal/possessive apostrophes from quotation-mark hazards.
Further guidance
Initial Apostrophe
Chicago supports “Rack ’Em Up and Play,” ignoring the leading apostrophe for capitalization of the pronoun contraction.
Oclock
Chicago writes “Four O’Clock,” treating the contracting apostrophe like a hyphen for title capitalization.
Possessives
Possessive apostrophes remain part of the word while its lexical capitalization is decided normally.
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
- Headlines and Titles of Works — Chicago Q&A (opens in a new tab)The Chicago Manual of Style / University of Chicago Press · Chicago title-case rules and current-edition updates
- Title case capitalization (opens in a new tab)American Psychological Association · APA title-case rules
- How should I capitalize the title of a handout? (opens in a new tab)MLA Style Center / Modern Language Association · MLA title-style capitalization
- Chicago title case and initial apostrophes (opens in a new tab)The Chicago Manual of Style · Initial apostrophe/contraction capitalization
- Chicago title case for “o’clock” (opens in a new tab)The Chicago Manual of Style · Contracting apostrophe and compound capitalization
Related across sections
These links are manually reviewed for a genuine cross-section connection.
Its vs. It’s
“Its” is the possessive determiner meaning “belonging to it.” “It’s” is a contraction of “it is” or “it has.” The possessive form does not take an apostrophe, even though many possessive nouns do.
Who’s vs. Whose
“Who’s” is a contraction of “who is” or “who has”; “whose” is the possessive wh-word used to ask or state who something belongs to. Because the forms are homophones in ordinary pronunciation, expansion and possession tests are more reliable than sound.
Your vs. You’re
“Your” is a possessive determiner used before a noun; “you’re” is the contraction of “you are.” The most reliable diagnostic is expansion: if “you are” fits the sentence, use “you’re”; if the word marks something belonging or relating to the person addressed, use “your.”
There vs. Their vs. They’re
“There,” “their,” and “they’re” sound alike but serve different jobs: “there” commonly refers to place or existence, “their” is possessive, and “they’re” is the contraction of “they are.” A two-stage meaning and expansion test resolves most cases.