Contractions


Contractions

What are contractions?
Since the word contract means to squeeze together, a contraction is two words made shorter by placing an apostrophe where letters have been omitted.
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.

Examples of common contractions include:
     1-  I’m : I am
     2-  Can’t : can not
     3-  We’ve : we have
     4-  She’ll : she will

Common contractions:
I + would / I + had  = I’d
I + will = I’ll
I + have = I’ve
I + am = I’m
she + had / she + would = she’d
she + will = she’ll
they + will = they’ll
they + are = they’re
they + have = they’ve
we + had / we + would = we’d
we + will = we’ll
we + are = we’re
we + have = we’ve
it + will = it’ll
that + is = that’s
there + is = there’s
where + is = where’s
let + us = let’s
can + not = can’t
could + not = couldn’t
did + not = didn’t
does + not = doesn’t
do + not = don’t
had + not = hadn’t
has + not = hasn’t
is +not = isn’t
should + not = shouldn’t
was + not = wasn’t
would + not = wouldn’t
could + have = could’ve
might + have = might’ve
must + have = must’ve
should + have = should’ve
would + have = would’ve
who + is = who’s
will + not = won’t
shall + not = shan’t

ЁЯСЙ You might have noticed that the word won’t is a little different from the other contractions. It means will not, even though the word will isn’t there. This is because won’t is based on a much older form of the word will. Even though the word changed, the contraction stayed the same!

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, "Sam's finished his term paper" implies completion in the past (Sam has finished), while "Sam's tired" is in the present tense, meaning Sam is.

When to use contractions
·        Contractions male your writing seem friendly and accessible. They give the appearance that you are actually ‘talking’ to your reader.
·        When writing dialogue in a novel or play, contractions help reflect how a character actually speaks.
·        Contractions help to save space when preparing advertisements, slogans and other written works that must be short and to the point.
·        Contractions are perfectly standard, but they’re usually considered to be relatively casual. If you’re writing something very formal, you may want to avoid using them except in cases like o’clock, where the full phrase (of the clock) truly is rare.

Exercise

Rewrite the sentence with contraction for the underlined word.

    a)   You are a good person.
   You’re a good person.

    b)   I am going to the store.
    I’m going to the store.

    c)    They are  in my class.
    They’re  in my class.

    d)   We are going to the beach.
    We’re going to the beach.

    e)   Let us help you with that.
    Let’s help you with that.

    f)    What is wrong with the clock?
    What’s wrong with the clock?

    g)   She is reading a book.
    She’s reading a book.

    h)   We have had ice cream for dessert.
    We've had ice cream for dessert.

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