Are the examples (a) and (b) equally acceptable?
(1a) That cop's very short and stout
(1b) That cup's very short and stout
(2a) Her spouse's been always attention-grabbing
(2b) Her blouse's been always attention-grabbing
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1No problem with any of them. Auxiliaries will contract to whatever the subject is, noun or pronoun, animate or inanimate. Of course, the sound is different after blouse than after cop, but that's not a problem.– John LawlerCommented Jun 27, 2022 at 21:39
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1"blouse's" might seem weird because the contraction is pronounced very similarly to the full "blouse is". But I don't think anyone would object to "Dinner's on the table" or the football chant "That coat's from Matalan".– Stuart FCommented Jun 27, 2022 at 22:12
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What the others said. But your always is a bit clunky there. It's would be more natural after the first auxiliary.– Araucaria - HimCommented Jun 27, 2022 at 23:43
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1Does this answer your question? Is contraction to noun's proper English [The store's too far away.]?– Edwin AshworthCommented Jun 28, 2022 at 9:42
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1 Answer
Your (1a) and (1b) are fine.
Your (2a) and (2b) are equally unidiomatic; always is in the wrong slot.
Try:
Her spouse's always been attention-grabbing.
Her blouse's always been attention-grabbing.
Note that there is no need to write a contraction in the two sentences above. Her spouse's always been and her spouse has always been sound virtually identical in spoken English.
In fact, you should spell out spouse has to avoid a garden path situation where the reader anticipates, for example, spouse's blouses (possessive) or spouse's lousy (is, not has) along the way.
answered Jun 28, 2022 at 3:17
