We usecontractions (I’m, we’re) in everyday speech and informal writing. Contractions, which are sometimes called ‘short forms’, commonly combine a pronoun or noun and a verb, or a verb andnot, in a shorter form. Contractions are usually not appropriate in formal writing.
We make contractions with auxiliary verbs,and also withbeandhavewhen they are not auxiliary verbs. When we make a contraction, we commonly put an apostrophe in place of a missing letter.
The following are the most common contractions.
Contractions withI,you,he,she,it,we, andthey
’m=am(I’m)
’re=are(you’re, we’re, they’re)
’s=isandhas(he’s, she’s, it’s)
’ve=have(’ve, you’ve, we’ve, they’ve)
’ll=will(I’ll, you’ll, he’ll, she’ll, it’ll, we’ll, they’ll)
’d=hadandwould(I’d, you’d, he’d, she’d, it’d, we’d, they’d)
Contractions with auxiliary verb andnot
The contraction fornotisn’t:
aren’t | = | are not(we aren’t,you aren’t) |
can’t | = | cannot |
couldn’t | = | could not |
didn’t | = | did not(I didn’t,they didn’t) |
hasn’t | = | has not |
haven’t | = | have not |
isn’t | = | is not(she isn’t,it isn’t) |
mustn’t | = | must not |
shan’t | = | shall not |
shouldn’t | = | should not |
wasn’t | = | was not |
weren’t | = | were not |
won’t | = | will not |
wouldn’t | = | would not |
We use contractions withbe+ negative in two ways:
She is notis contracted toshe isn’torshe’s not.I am notis only contracted toI’m not. Not:I’m n’torI am n’t.They are notis contracted tothey aren’torthey’re not. Theisn’t/aren’tcontractions are more common after nouns. The’s/ ’re not contractions are more common after pronouns:The cakesaren’tready yet. She’s nota friend of mine.
Other contractions
Contractions can occur after nouns, names,here,thereandnowand question words. These contractions are not considered appropriate in formal writing:
| = | My sister has got married. |
| = | John will be very happy. |
| = | Here is the coffee. |
| = | There is your watch. |
| = | Now is your chance. |
| = | Where is the milk? |
| = | What has happened? |
We don’t use more than one contraction:
He’s not free.
Not:he’sn’t free.
We don’t use affirmative contractions at the end of clauses:
A:I think we’re lost.
B:Yes, I think we are.
Not:I think we’re
However, we do use negative contractions at the end of clauses and we do commonly use contractions in tag questions:
A:You’ve contacted Jan, haven’t you?
B:No, I haven’t.
In questionforms,am notis contracted toaren’t:
I’m getting a pay rise, aren’t I?
Not:amn’t I?
See also:
Apostrophe (’)
Let,let’s
It’sorits?
Spelling
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