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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