Contractions

For Intermediate learners

You might wonder what the difference between formal and informal styles is. One of the elements that can make your writings informal is using contractions.

What Are Contractions?

Contractions are shortened forms of words or phrases that are created by combining two words and replacing one or more letters with an apostrophe.

Uses

We can use contractions in the following cases:

Now, let us explore some of them.

Auxiliary Verbs

Auxiliary verbs 'be', 'have', and 'do' can be used in contracted froms. Let us discuss each one individually:

To Be

We can shorten the 'to be' verb both with the subject pronoun and the noun that acts as its subject. Below is a table of the contracted forms of the 'to be' verb with subject pronouns:

Full form	Contracted form
I am	I'm
You are	You're
It is	It's
He is	He's
She is	She's
We are	We're
They are	They're

Warning!

Do not confuse 'it's' with 'its'. 'Its' is a possessive pronoun and does not have an apostrophe.

Now, let us see how they are used in sentences:

I'm at the bakery.

We're trying to concentrate here.

Paul's offering us a new job.

This auxiliary verb can also have a contracted negative form. Take a look at the following table:

Full form	Contracted form
I am not	-
You are not	You aren't
It is not	It isn't
He is not	He isn't
She is not	She isn't
We are not	We aren't
They are not	They aren't

Now, study the following examples:

Tania isn't working hard enough.

You aren't supposed to talk to your mother like that.

It isn't the place that is scary.

To Have

Another common auxiliary verb is 'have'. It can be used with any subject. Take a look at the following table:

Full form	Contracted form
Have	've
Has	's
Had	'd

Now, let us take a look at some examples below:

I've already been to that café.

Anne's worked so hard for this project.

They'd eaten before coming here.

Just like 'to be', this auxiliary verb can have a contracted negative form. Take a look at the following table:

Full form	Contracted form
Have not	Haven't
Has not	Hasn't
Had not	Hadn't

Now, let us analyze some examples below:

She hasn't showed up lately.

They haven't gone mad yet.

I haven't had the time to read your analysis honey.

'To Do'

The next important auxiliary verb is 'do'. However, this verb can only be contracted in the negative form. Take a look at the following table for more clarification:

Full form	Contracted form
Do not	Don't
Does not	Doesn't
Did not	Didn't

Now, let us take a look at some examples :

She didn't give in, though.

It doesn't bother me anymore.

Don't you dare talk to me like that, boy!

Interrogative Words

It is possible to shorten words when asking questions. Take a look at the table below to understand how we can use 'to be' in questions and shorten it:

Full form	Contracted fomr
What is	What's
When is	When's
Where is	Where's
How is	How's
Who is	Who's

Warning!

We can use the contracted forms of the 'to be' verb only when we are asking 'wh-questions'.

Now, let us take a look at some examples:

When's Maria's birthday?

How's your relationship with Paula?

Where's your car, by the way?

Warning!

Do not confuse these contractions with abbreviations. An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word that is unique for that word. Compare the following examples:

SKU

This is an abbreviation for Stock Keeping Unit

He's

This is just the combination of a subject pronoun and the 'to be' verb.

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What Are Contractions?

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