Contractions in Grammar - Definition, How to Use and Examples

Haven’t you used ‘won’t’, ‘can’t’, ‘shouldn’t’, ‘wouldn’t’ and so on in your writing and speech? You surely would have. They are called contractions. Explore the article to learn all about contractions in writing and go through the list of contractions given to understand clearly.

Table of Contents

• Contractions – Meaning and Definition
• How to Use Contractions in Writing? – Rules and Points to Remember
• List of Contractions in Grammar
• Commonly Confused Contractions in Writing
• Use of Contractions in Literature
• Examples of Sentences Using Contractions
• Check Your Understanding of Contractions in Writing
• Frequently Asked Questions on Contractions in English Grammar

Contractions – Meaning and Definition

The term ‘contraction’ refers to the shortened form of two words with an apostrophe that marks the missing letter in the contracted form. Contraction mostly happens with a subject and a verb or when a helping verb or a modal verb is converted to its negative form.

In English grammar, a contraction is defined as “a short form of a word”, according to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines ‘contraction’ as “a shortening of a word, syllable, or word group by omission of a sound or letter”.

How to Use Contractions in Writing? – Rules and Points to Remember

Using contractions when you speak does not have much of a problem. Only in written communication do you need to be extra careful as there are chances that you may confuse it with other similar words. For example, ‘your’ and ‘you’re’. Very often, English language users are seen to make this mistake out of carelessness. So, here are a few rules you should keep in mind when you use contracted forms in writing.

• When you need to form negatives, you just have to add ‘not’ to the verb. With all the be verbs, do verbs, have verbs and modal verbs, you can combine the two and use a contraction. For example, ‘are not’ becomes ‘aren’t’.
• When forming such a contraction, it is the ‘o’ in ‘not’ that is removed, and an apostrophe is used instead. For instance, ‘should not’ becomes ‘shouldn’t’.
• A subject and verb contraction occurs when pronouns are used with be verbs, have verbs and modal verbs. For example, ‘I have’ becomes ‘I’ve’.

One common rule that applies to all types of contractions is the position of the apostrophe. Remember that the purpose of the apostrophe is to indicate that there are one or more missing letters in the word. For this same reason, you need to place the apostrophe right where the letter(s) are missing.

To understand how the various contractions are formed in English, here is a list of contractions that are commonly used in everyday speech and writing.

List of Contractions in Grammar

Commonly Confused Contractions in Writing

As already discussed, there are times when you might confuse some of the contractions with other words. This is mainly because they have similar pronunciations. Take a look at the following examples to learn the right usage.

• You’re, a contraction of you are, is confused with the possessive pronoun ‘your’.
• Who’s, a contraction of who is or who has, is mistakenly written as the relative pronoun ‘whose’.
• It’s, a contraction of it is, is confused with the possessive pronoun ‘its’.
• Ain’t is an informal and uncommon contraction that is not used much in everyday communication or professional writing. It can be a contraction of am not, are not, is not, has not or have not.

How to identify which contraction it is?

Sometimes, when the same contraction refers to multiple verbs, it becomes slightly confusing. In this case, how do you identify the verb? Let us look at some examples.

In a sentence such as, ‘He’d like to participate in the competition’, which is the contracted verb? To identify the verb, you will have to analyse the sentence. The above sentence expresses a wish, and you know that wishes and probabilities are expressed using modal verbs. So the verb here is ‘would’.

Let us look at another example. ‘He’d gone to drop Riti when you called.’ In this sentence, you can see that the past participle ‘gone’ is used after the contraction. That should be enough for you to understand that the verb is ‘had’.

Here is another example – ‘She’s coming home tonight.’ In this sentence, you see a present participle ‘coming’ following the contraction, making it a continuous sentence. That should help you comprehend that the verb in the contraction is ‘is’. On the other hand, in the sentence, ‘She’s completed her work’, it is ‘has’.

All you have to do is to pay attention to the verbs that follow the contraction in the sentence.

What to do when there is a possibility for two contractions in a sentence?

There are times when you find sentences in which you can use the contracted form of the subject and the verb or the verb and not. In these scenarios, you will have to choose either. You cannot use both. Given below are a few examples for your reference.

Example 1

She’s not taking the bus today.

(or)

She isn’t taking the bus today.

Example 2

I am sure it’ll not be the same.

(or)

I am sure it won’t be the same.

Example 3

We’d not be able to visit Sreya and her family this weekend.

(or)

We wouldn’t be able to visit Sreya and her family this weekend.

Example 4

They’re not here yet.

(or)

They aren’t here yet.

Example 5

You’ve not submitted your thesis yet.

(or)

You haven’t submitted your thesis yet.

There are however some cases where two contractions are used in a sentence. This happens only when there are two or more verbs in a sentence. For example, Don’t you feel like you’re the star tonight?

Use of Contractions in Literature

You will find multiple usages of contraction in literary works. In addition to the standard contractions, some playwrights and poets use their creative freedom to apply the rule of adding an apostrophe for missing letters in other words too. They are called poetic contractions.

Listed below are the most commonly found poetic contractions in literary works.

Examples of Sentences Using Contractions

• Sheela hasn’t worked at the radio station for a year.
• Make sure you don’t forget to take all your documents.
• You’d have another chance for sure.
• How’s everyone at home?
• Until you learn it thoroughly, we’ll keep doing it over and over again.
• Peter wasn’t keeping well.
• I guess it wouldn’t be a problem.
• The judge could’ve given you another chance.
• Doesn’t Trinita live close by?
• The doctors haven’t been able to diagnose what’s causing the allergy.

Check Your Understanding of Contractions in Writing

Rewrite the following sentences using the expanded form of the underlined contractions.

1. Who wouldn’t want a million dollars?

2. Tresa isn’t present today.

3. They’ve finally come to a decision.

4. I guess we’re going to be late.

5. It can’t be done within a week.

6. The students should’ve found the answer to the question by now.

7. Do you think you’re ready?

8. Can’t you work this out yourself?

9. There wasn’t much time; we had to make a decision without much delay.

10. She’s figured out a way to clear your dilemma.

The answers to the exercise are given below. Check to see if your answers are correct.

1. Who would not want a million dollars?

2. Tresa is not present today.

3. They have finally come to a decision.

4. I guess we are going to be late.

5. It cannot be done within a week.

6. The students should have found the answer to the question by now.

7. Do you think you are ready?

8. Can you not work this out yourself?

9. There was not much time; we had to make a decision without much delay.

10. She has figured out a way to clear your dilemma.