Many years ago when I went to school, the use of contractions was frowned upon, and for many teachers, a punishable offense. They were never taught in my school system during primary school and only reluctantly introduced towards the end of secondary school as a way to recognize the informal nature in which language was changing.
If we used them in our writing activities, we would lose points and if we spoke them out loud, then we were immediately corrected and told to "Speak Correctly". Even today as an English teacher, I do not accept them as part of writing although I do accept them in speaking.
But what are contractions and why are they such an important part of the English language.
Contractions are
shortened words that use an apostrophe to
combine two words into one. You hear contractions in conversation and see them
in writing. Understanding the proper use of contractions can help you to achieve a high level of proficiency in the English language.
How to Write a Contraction Word
Since the
word contract means “to squeeze together,” it seems only logical that a
contraction is two words made shorter by placing an
apostrophe where letters have been omitted. Writing a contraction correctly
is simple when you know the general rule of creating contractions.
You replace the letters that were removed from the original words with an apostrophe when you make the contraction.
If you
combine “is” + “not” to form “isn’t,” you remove the “o” from “not” and replace
it with an apostrophe. One common exception to this rule is the word “won’t.”
It is a shortened form of “will not,” but you can see the word “will” is not in
the contraction at all.
Types Of Contractions
There are at least two main types
of contractions. These types include contracted auxiliary verbs and negative
contractions.
Another type of contraction word is one that does not
include elision and replacement by an apostrophe. This contraction is a simple
combination of two words into a new word. For example, “going to” can be
contracted to “gonna”, and “want to” can be contracted to “wanna”. These are
informal in nature.
Contractions can be used in subject-auxiliary
inversion, meaning the contraction can switch places with the subject
and used as an auxiliary verb. This is often used in questions. For example,
“She is not” can be contracted to “She isn’t”, and that in turn can be inverted
into the question “Isn’t she?”.
How to Write Contractions Words
To write contractions, you generally must delete a
portion of a word in a two-word phrase (like the “a” in “You are”), close any
space between those words, and replace the missing letter with an apostrophe
(“You’re”).
Contractions List
List of Contractions of Auxiliaries
The verb “to be” can take on many conjugated forms
(like “is”, “are”, and “am”). In turn, these conjugated forms can be made into
contractions when associated with a noun or pronoun. For example:
“I am” becomes “I’m” (for example, “I’m a teacher”),
an ” ‘m ” contraction,
“She is” becomes “She’s” (for example, “She’s a
doctor”) an ” ‘s ” contraction,
“They are” becomes “They’re” (for example, “They’re
professionals” or “They’re accountants”) a ” ‘re ” contraction, or
“The dog is” becomes “The dog’s” (for example, “The
dog’s healthy”), an ” ‘s ” contraction used with not with a pronoun (I, she),
but with a noun (dog).
It should be noted that the ” ‘s” contraction can be
used to indicate a possessive form. For example, “The worker is tall”
is contracted to “The worker’s tall” in an auxiliary verb form, but
“The lunchbox of the worker” can be contracted to “The worker’s lunchbox” to
indicate possession.
Other contracted auxiliary verb forms include those
for:
have (” ‘ve”),
had (” ‘d”),
has, (” ‘ve”), or
will (” ‘ll”).
The contractions of auxiliary verbs are as follows:
‘m for am
‘s for is
‘re for are
‘ve for have
‘s for has
‘d for had
‘ll for will
Negative Contractions List
These contractions words usually involve taking the
“o” out of “not” and replacing it with an apostrophe “n’t”. Examples include:
“be” (“is not” contracts to “isn’t”),
“have” (“have not” contracts to “haven’t”),
“do” (“do not” contracts to “don’t”),
“can” (“can not” contracts to “can’t”),
“will”, (“will not” contracts to “won’t”), and
shall (“should not” contracts to “shouldn’t”).
List of negative contractions words:
Forms of be: isn’t, aren’t,
wasn’t, weren’t
Forms of have: haven’t, hasn’t,
hadn’t
Modal verbs: can’t, couldn’t, mayn’t, mightn’t, mustn’t, shan’t, shouldn’t, won’t , wouldn’t, needn’t, oughtn’t.
Forms of do: don’t, doesn’t,
didn’t
Alphabetical List of Contractions
aren’t – are not
can’t – cannot
couldn’t – could not
didn’t – did not
doesn’t – does not
don’t – do not
hadn’t – had not
hasn’t – has not
haven’t – have not
he’d – he had; he would
he’ll – he will; he shall
he’s – he is; he has
I’d – I had; I would
I’ll – I will; I shall
I’m – I am
I’ve – I have
isn’t – is not
let’s – let us
mightn’t – might not
mustn’t – must not
shan’t – shall not
she’d – she had; she would
she’ll – she will; she shall
she’s – she is; she has
shouldn’t – should not
that’s – that is; that has
there’s – there is; there has
they’d – they had; they would
they’ll – they will; they shall
they’re – they are
they’ve – they have
we’d – we had; we would
we’re – we are
we’ve – we have
weren’t – were not
what’ll – what will; what shall
what’re – what are
what’s – what is; what has
what’ve – what have
where’s – where is; where has
who’d – who had; who would
who’ll – who will; who shall
who’re – who are
who’s – who is; who has
who’ve – who have
won’t – will not
wouldn’t – would not
you’d – you had; you would
you’ll – you will; you shall
you’re – you are
you’ve – you have
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