Contractions in English
A contraction is a shorter form of one or two words, made by combining them and leaving out some letters. An apostrophe (’) shows where letters are missing. Contractions make speech and writing sound more natural and conversational.
Examples: I am → I’m, You are → You’re, Do not → Don’t
These are formed by joining the subject with am, is, are.
- I am → I’m
- You are → You’re
- He is → He’s
- She is → She’s
- They are → They’re
When have / has is used as a helping verb, we can make contractions:
- I have → I’ve
- You have → You’ve
- We have → We’ve
- She has → She’s
- They have → They’ve
We use ’ll to show the future tense.
- I will → I’ll
- You will → You’ll
- He will → He’ll
- We will → We’ll
- They will → They’ll
We use ’d for “would.” It can also mean “had” depending on the sentence.
- I would → I’d
- You would → You’d
- He would → He’d
- We would → We’d
- They would → They’d
These are made by joining a verb with “not.”
Common Negative Forms
- is not → isn’t
- are not → aren’t
- was not → wasn’t
- were not → weren’t
- do not → don’t
Other Negative Forms
- does not → doesn’t
- did not → didn’t
- cannot → can’t
- will not → won’t
- would not → wouldn’t
- I had finished → I’d finished
- You had gone → You’d gone
- He had left → He’d left
- We had tried → We’d tried
- They had known → They’d known
Some contractions are more casual and used mostly in speech or informal writing.
- Let us → Let’s
- Going to → Gonna
- Want to → Wanna
- Got to → Gotta
- Kind of → Kinda
Note: Avoid these in academic or formal writing.
Rewrite the following sentences using contractions. Click to see the correct answers.