1999 Ford Contour gears not catching

So bout a couple months ago my sister gave me this car with an obvious notion that the car has shifting problems on its automatic transaxle, when in any shift, reverse through 1st 2nd and drive gears it doesnt immediately catch gears and drive, but instead take moment 's' to shift on a high rev. Under my understanding I thought it was the gears themselves so I took the transaxle out and looked and they appear to be fine. Could it be then that the clutch has gone out? Thanks for any answers you can give.