What Are Contractions in English Grammar

A contraction is a word or phrase that has been shortened by dropping one or more letters. In writing, an apostrophe is used to indicate the place of the missing letters.  Contractions are commonly used in  speech  (or written dialogue),  informal forms of writing, and where space is at a premium, such as in advertising. In very formal writing, such as academic papers, grant proposals, or other works that need to appear professional, you may not want to use contractions at all. Why Do We Use Contractions? We rely on contractions all the time in normal conversation. When people speak to each other, there is typically an expectation that they will use contractions (cant, wont, shouldnt) whenever they can, as doing so saves time. Some people are under the impression that contractions should never appear in writing, but this belief is mistaken. The use of contractions is directly related to tone. In informal writing (from text messages and blogs to memos and personal essays), we often rely on contractions to maintain a colloquial tone.  In more formal writing assignments (such as academic reports or term papers), avoiding contractions is a way of establishing a more serious tone. Before deciding whether to use contractions in a writing assignment, consider your audience and your purpose for writing. The Contractive  Apostrophe In telescoped words and phrases (e.g.,  doesnt, theres, souwester), an apostrophe marks the spot where one or more letters have been omitted. It is not necessarily where the words have been joined together. This apostrophe is also known as the contractive apostrophe. Some people, including the Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw, have been in favor of eliminating apostrophes entirely. Shaw called them uncouth bacilli, though its unlikely that Shaws analogy to bacteria will help the apostrophe go away anytime soon. Contracted Nouns and Pronouns In casual conversation, contractions involving  nouns  are fairly common (My  dadll  be home soon). In writing, however,  theyre  much rarer than contractions with  pronouns such as Ill, hed, and shes. You can contract proper nouns to mean is or has, such as in the sentence Shellys coming with us, or Jeffs bought a new computer. Watch out for the homonyms whos and whose; the contraction is who is or who has, and the whole word is possessive, as in Whose car is that?  And of course, if youre visiting the South, youll likely hear the colloquial yall for you all. Negative Contractions and Verb Contractions Contractions are often made with auxiliary, or helping, verbs, such as to be, do, have, and can. We can say it isnt raining or its not raining. But we cannot say itsnt raining. In negative clauses, we have a choice between using negative contractions like not  (nt) and contracting the pronoun and verb (its). But we cant do both. Contracting Not The contracted form of not (nt) can be attached to  finite forms  of the  helping verbs  be, do, and  have. However, amnt (mainly Scottish and Irish) is extremely rare, unlike the disparaged aint. The nt form can also be attached to most of the modal auxiliaries  such as  cant, couldnt, mustnt, shouldnt, wont, and wouldnt. Yet, you wont hear many Americans saying maynt or shant;  even those contractions are too formal. Contractions in  Tag Questions A tag question is a short question added to the end of a  declarative sentence, usually to make sure that something has been done or understood. For example, Its a tag question,  isnt it? Because of their  colloquial  nature, negative tags are commonly contracted:  didnt we? havent you? arent they?  This is much less formal than did not we? or did we not? Ambiguous Contractions Most contractions ending in  d  and  s  are ambiguous. The  d  can  represent either  had  or  would;  s  can represent either  has  or  is. All the same, the meaning of these contractions is usually clear from their  context. For instance, Sams  finished his term paper implies completion in the past  (Sam has finished), while  Sams  tired is in the present tense, meaning  Sam is. Multiple Contractions They may look odd in print, but certain multiple contractions such as  Idve  (or  Ida) and  wouldntve  are fairly common in speech. We like shortcuts, so its easy to say something like, If  Idve  told you the real reason, you probably  wouldntve  come back with me. Quite often, we dont even notice it.  The words just run together as we talk. Under the category of rarities, there are a few double and even triple contracted nautical terms. These include words like  bosn  (short for  boatswain) and  focsle  (a variant of  forecastle), words that landlubbers can probably live without. Before you start recklessly sprinkling apostrophes everywhere, make sure youre not putting an apostrophe plus s on something that should actually be plural: i.e., the  greengrocers apostrophe. Aphaeresis, Syncope, and Apocope Another common type of linguistic shortening (or  elision) is the omission of certain sounds or letters from an individual word. In phonetics, elision at the beginning of a word (for instance, gator from alligator) is called aphaeresis. In the middle of a word (maam from madam), it is a syncope. When it appears at the end of a word (ad from advertisement), we call it an apocope. Aphaeresis and apocope can occur together, as in  flu—a  clipped  form of  influenza. Standard Contractions in English In the following table, youll find a list of more than  70 contractions in English. aren't are not can't cannot couldn't could not could've could have didn't did not doesn't does not don't do not e'er ever 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 it'd it would it'll it shall; it will it's it is; it has let's let us ma'am madam mightn't might not might've might have mustn't must not must've must have 'n' and needn't need not ne'er never o'er over ol' old oughtn't ought 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 should've should have that'd that would that's that is; that has there'd there had; there would there'll there shall; there will there's there has; there is they'd they had; they would they'll they will; they shall they're they are they've they have 'twas it was wasn't was not we'd we had; we would we'll we will 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 does what've what have where'd where did where's where is; where has who'd who had; who would who'll who will; who shall who's who is; who has who've who have why'd why did won't will not wouldn't would not would've would have you'd you had; you would you'll you will; you shall you're you are you've you have