As you can tell from the term, contractions are used in English grammar to compress words or sentences. A contraction lowers the length of a word or phrase by omitting letters. In written texts, an apostrophe is used to indicate missing letters. You will learn more about the importance of it along with some examples here. In this article, you will learn the basics and importance of contractions in English grammar.

What are Contractions in English Grammar?

We come across contractions in our daily lives. Contractions are frequently used in casual writings and casual speaking. Verbs are frequently at the heart of any contraction. “Shouldn’t” is an instance of a contraction.

It’s the abbreviated version of the term “should not”. Here you can see that the “o” letter is missing and the word is smaller now with an addition of an apostrophe. Now, that you know the contractions meaning in English grammar, let’s move on to the next section on why we use them.

Why Do We Use Contractions?

Every day, we converse with others and utilise contractions. These words reduce the amount of time we spend speaking. The fewer words make it easier for individuals to get to the essence of the topic.

Hearing contractions mispronounced leads to grammatical errors. When spoken quickly, for instance, may sound like words. It might be perplexing for pupils to learn English as a second language. These students assume the terms “would of” and “would’ve” produce it as “would’ve.”

When to Use Contractions?

Contractions, according to certain writers, have no place in any written language. These folks don’t realise that the way you employ them affects the tone of your voice. They are used in informal writing to produce a more appealing tone of speech. A professional piece of writing, on the other hand, needs an authoritative tone.

The tone of voice you want to use in your content says a lot. Is your target audience welcoming? Is it a sombre occasion? It’s crucial to know who you’re attempting to speak with. Consider your intended readers before writing something with them.

Different Types of Contractions

Contractions Using Nouns and Pronouns

The greatest location to hear a contracted term uttered is in a casual conversation. When placed next to a verb, a noun can form part of a contraction. We frequently hear a word like mom used in conjunction with the verb will. A contracted noun is something like “Mom’ll.” In writing, we seldom use this form of contraction.

In writing, however, contracted pronouns are more common. Pronoun contractions include I’ll, He’d, and He’s. Words like “is” and “has” combine pronouns.

Also Read: How to Learn English Through Movies? How to Learn English Quickly?

Ambiguous Contractions

When reading, you may come across an unclear contraction. Without the correct context, they might be perplexing. It would be hard to know whether “he’d” referred to the sentence “he would” or “he had” without context. The letters “s” and “d” are commonly used to conclude ambiguous contractions.

Examples

# She’s 5 years old.

# She’s got 100 dollars in her account.

“She’s” signifies “she is” in the first line. In this context, “she has” makes no sense at all. “She’s” alludes to “she has” in the second phrase. The second option is wrong.

Informal Contractions

When individuals speak casually, their words are shorter. These terms are frequently misunderstood as slang. We frequently hear individuals using terms like “gonna to” in casual contexts. This word came about as a result of people pronouncing “going to” very quickly.

Apostrophes are not required for informal contractions. In the United States of America, they are increasingly common.

# Whatcha gonna do?

# The girl’s kinda cute.

Also Read: The Formula of Present Perfect Continuous Tense: Facts and Rules to Know

Contractions Examples List

Find all the contractions that are used while speaking and writing in the table below:

Contraction Word

a’ight

alright

ain’t

am not / is not / are not / has not / have not / did not (colloquial)

amn’t

am not

arencha

aren’t you / are not you (colloquial)

aren’t

are not

‘bout

about

can’t

cannot

cap’n

captain

’cause

because

’cept

except

could’ve

could have

couldn’t

could not

couldn’t’ve

could not have

dammit

damn it

daren’t

dare not / dared not

daresn’t

dare not

dasn’t

dare not

didn’t

did not

doesn’t

does not

don’t

do not / does not

dunno

don’t know/do not know

d’ye

do you/did you

e’en

even

e’er

ever

’em

them

everybody’s

everybody is

everyone’s

everyone is

fo’c’sle

forecastle

’gainst

against

g’day

good day

gimme

give me

giv’n

given

gi’z

give us (colloquial, meaning: give me)

gonna

going to

gon’t

go not (colloquial)

gotta

got to

hadn’t

had not

had’ve

had have

hasn’t

has not

haven’t

have not

he’d

he had / he would

he’ll

he shall / he will

helluva

hell of a

he’s

he has / he is

here’s

here is

how’d

how did / how would

howdy

how do you do / how do you fare

how’ll

how will

how’re

how are

how’s

how has / how is / how does

I’d

I had / I would

I’d’ve

I would have

I’d’nt

I would not

I’d’nt’ve

I would not have

I’ll

I shall / I will

I’m

I am

Imma

I am about to/I am going to

I’m’o

I am going to

innit

isn’t it

Ion

I don’t / I do not

I’ve

I have

isn’t

is not

it’d

it would

it’ll

it shall / it will

it’s

it has / it is

Idunno

I don’t know

kinda

kind of

let’s

let us

ma’am

madam

mayn’t

may not

may’ve

may have

methinks

I think

mightn’t

might not

might’ve

might have

mustn’t

must not

mustn’t’ve

must not have

must’ve

must have

‘neath

beneath

needn’t

need not

nal

and all

ne’er

never

o’clock

of the clock

o’er

over

ol’

old

oughtn’t

ought not

‘round

around

‘s

is, has, does, or us

shalln’t

shall not (archaic)

shan’t

shall not

she’d

she had / she would

she’ll

she shall / she will

she’s

she has / she is

should’ve

should have

shouldn’t

should not

shouldn’t’ve

should not have

somebody’s

somebody has / somebody is

someone’s

someone has / someone is

something’s

something has / something is

so’re

so are (colloquial)

so’s

so is / so has

so’ve

so have

that’ll

that shall / that will

that’re

that are

that’s

that has / that is

that’d

that would / that had

there’d

there had / there would

there’ll

there shall / there will

there’re

there are

there’s

there has / there is

these’re

these are

these’ve

these have

they’d

they had / they would

they’ll

they shall / they will

they’re

they are / they were

they’ve

they have

this’s

this has / this is

those’re

those are

those’ve

those have

‘thout (

without

’til

until

’tis

it is

to’ve

to have

’twas

it was

‘tween

between

’twere

it were

wanna

want to

wasn’t

was not

we’d

we had / we would/ we did

we’d’ve

we would have

we’ll

we shall / we will

we’re

we are

we’ve

we have

weren’t

were not

whatcha

What are you (whatcha doing?)

what about you (as in asking how someone is today, used as a greeting)

what’d

what did

what’ll

what shall / what will

what’re

what are/what were

what’s

what has / what is / what does

what’ve

what have

when’s

when has / when is

where’d

where did

where’ll

where shall / where will

where’re

where are

where’s

where has / where is / where does

where’ve

where have

which’d

which had / which would

which’ll

which shall / which will

which’re

which are

which’s

which has / which is

which’ve

which have

who’d

who would / who had / who did

who’d’ve

who would have

who’ll

who shall / who will

who’re

who are

who’s

who has / who is / who does

who’ve

who have

why’d

why did

why’re

why are

why’s

why has / why is / why does

willn’t

will not (archaic)

won’t

will not

wonnot

will not (archaic)

would’ve

would have

wouldn’t

would not

wouldn’t’ve

would not have

y’at

you at

yes’m

yes ma’am / yes madam

yessir

yes sir

you’d

you had / you would

you’ll

you shall / you will

you’re

you are

you’ve

you have

Also Read: Pronunciations You Should Avoid: Tips to Work on English Pronunciation

What is the Importance of Contractions in Grammar?

Despite the fact that thousands of words are contracted every day, we’ll concentrate on only one today: “not.”

But first, there are two things to keep in mind. The first is that not using contractions might indicate that you are not a native English speaker. This is due to the frequency with which contractions are employed.

Number two, and most crucially, not using contractions indicates to your audience that you are attempting to emphasise the words you are speaking. This implies that if you don’t contract “not,” for example, you’re emphasising the negative word, implying that you’re angry, unhappy, or otherwise negative.Conclusion

Whether you’ve been learning English for a long period of time or are just getting started, you’ve probably heard a lot of native English speakers use contractions.

When it comes to learning and comprehending English, contractions, or shorter variants of a word created by substituting a letter or sounds with an apostrophe (‘), are extremely significant. Using these shorter terms will improve your ability to comprehend a conversation and suggest that you have a greater degree of pronunciation fluency.

If you want to learn more about English language basics, visit The Fluent Life now!

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