Questions tagged [contractions]
A contraction is a shortened version of the written and spoken forms of a word, syllable, or word group, created by omission of internal letters.
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listening and pronunciation of contractions, 'd
I can't exactly hear the sound of 'd in cassettes, like:
She'd make it.
She'd be with them very soon.
I tried to listen them in youtube. I found I could hear it when some native english ...
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Other way to pronounce they'd
Is there another way to pronounce the word "they'd"? In this video (2:23), I think he pronounces it as "/ðed/ instead of /ðeɪd/.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXQQ94rg9ic
Thank ...
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"How's things?" or "How are things?"
In a short interview where people were introducing themselves I saw something that grammatically sounds erroneous. Is the use of How's things instead of How're things a kind of expression or a simple ...
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Why does Kipling use an apostrophe on 'rickshaw?
Kipling's short story The Phantom 'Rickshaw has, as we can see, a leading apostrophe on the word "rickshaw". Why does it have one? According to Wikipedia, "rickshaw" is directly ...
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When is the "t" pronounced in won’t, don’t, can’t?
I am a speaker of Canadian English. I have noticed that when people pronounce won’t, don’t, and can’t, often when speaking normally, they don’t release the “t”, as in connected speech. The standard ...
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Is "don't" a particle of its own?
I noticed an oddity in the sentence Why don't you just do it?: Although I always thought of don't simply as of a short form of do not it seems to me as if this is not the case in this sentence. ...
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What is the Origin of '' 'sup? ''
Sup is a contraction or aphetic of the older term ''what's up?'', Does anyone know how it has originated?
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Why isn't "I had to" contracted to "I'd to" unlike other auxiliary usage of the verb "had"?
We say "I had to leave," but not "I'd to leave." Why? This is also unlike other auxiliary usage of the verb "had" (e.g. in past perfect tense), so the difference is more ...
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"I'm right, aren't I?"
My dictionary reports that aren't is also an abbreviation for am not, when used in questions.
Is this use of aren't common? If it is common, are there any differences between the different English ...
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How to negate the double modal construction "might could" (and others)?
I have relatives from the southern U.S., and they often use double modal verbs in their speech, like "I might could go to the market". I understand that this isn't considered standard, but it got me ...
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Why did contractions (elimination of “e”) at the end of verbs disappear? [duplicate]
commonly seen in Early Modern English e.g. trimm’d, poliʃh’d
extracted from a passage written in 1737
we are curious about why these verbs used to be spelled this way but aren’t anymore
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Does "you're" also qualify as a valid contraction for "you were"?
If not, is there a way to write "you were" in a short form?
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Is it appropriate to contract text names in a possibly informal sense in an English literature essay? [closed]
I am writing a an essay comparing The Great Gatsby and Pride and Prejudice in English (Australian English style), and to save on word count I wondered if it would be appropriate to refer to them, ...
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What's the grammar of the song title "Baby I'm-a Want You"?
There is a famous song called Baby I'm-a Want You.
The name sounds wrong. Why is it not "Baby I want you"? Auxiliary verb "am" and article "a" look excessive in this ...
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Contraction of "I was"?
Is there a contraction for "I was"?
There are contractions for "I am" (I'm), "I will" (I'll), "I have" (I've), "I would" (I'd), and yet the simple past tense seems conspicuously missing. Why is ...
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"Don't let's fight"
I was watching a movie the other day and one character said to another, "Don't let's fight" instead of "Let's not fight." Is this proper usage, and if so, what is the grammatical rule that applies ...
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Why is 'Where's it' Grammatically incorrect? [duplicate]
I want to explain to the Spanish developers of a website why this text label sounds wrong:
If your column isn't country data, where's it?
IMHO, you have to say "Where is it?" - but I don't know ...
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Why does the contraction "she's" mean she is or she has? [closed]
I saw this from globalnews.ca:
Molly Johnson on the album she’s always wanted to make
When referring to google ngram, I get 3 possible combinations of she's:
She 's
She's
She has
So my ...
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Is there some rule against ending a sentence with the contraction "it's"?
I heard this lyric in a song the other day and it just sounded so wrong that I assumed it must be incorrect grammar, but I can't find any specific prohibition that applies.
That's what it's.
That ...
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Do native people pronounce "it is on the table" as "ɪt sɑːn ðə ˈteɪbl" or "ɪt zɑːn ðə ˈteɪbl"?
Sometimes, when I watch American films, I often hear people say "ɪt zɑːn ðə ˈteɪbl" (it is on the table).
I learned in textbook that "it is" can be contracted as "it's" and since "t" is voiceless so ...
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Is there a word for the single letter contractions commonly used in store names?
Is there a term for the single-letter contractions as used in the following examples?
Toys 'r' us
Stop 'n' go
(Note: Trademarks above have been corrected for proper grammar.)
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Has there ever been " 'tis " in AmE?
'Tis is the contraction of it is. I heard that it was contracted due to the way it's pronounced--the accent; because the accent is at the T. So, just wondering if American English uses this 'tis, ...
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Is there a limit to what words can be contracted with "are"? What about "where're" and "here're"?
Are there limited number of words we can append a 're to?
Are the following words correct:
where're
here're
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Why does substituting a noun-verb with its contraction form seem awkward or grammatically incorrect? [duplicate]
I stumbled upon this strange problem. The following sentence is grammatically correct:
It's better to be miserable and rich than it is to be miserable and poor.
Let's replace the second "it is&...
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Why does the "e" in judge vanish in the word "judgment"?
The in the word "judgment", the "e" from "judge" is absent. Three questions on this:
Why is this?
Is there a name for such a contraction?
How and why does the "g" still retain its "soft" ...
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"Do you not" vs. "Don't you"
I live in the UK and I mostly hear people saying Don't you..., but some people say: Do you not...? What is the difference and which one is more correct?
You can put any example really. Something like:...
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What is the difference between "’ll" and "will"?
Is there any difference in the meaning when we use 'll or will?
For example,
I will go to university tomorrow.
I'll go to university tomorrow.
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Rule for when "it is" cannot be contracted to "it's"
"It is" cannot always be shortened to "it's". For example:
She says freelancing is a dream job. It is, but there are several factors to consider, before taking the plunge.
Here, it ...
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Can I contract "you is" to "you's"? [duplicate]
Not in the sense of "you are", but rather, I'm writing a poem for my girlfriend and I wrote this line: "Loving you's no hassle." I don't want to use anything incorrect, but I also ...
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Should contractions like "'til" be capitalized in a title?
Should contractions like "'til" be capitalized in a title, when in the middle of a title? What if the "'til" is the first or last word? An example of this is the album "Dog Party - 'Til You're Mine" (...
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Are there rules against using a clitic in a sentence that's followed only by a verb?
I was just texting someone about what they were up to and wanted to finish the conversation by asking them to be careful. So I said "Please be careful," to which they responded "I'll be&...
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Why are expressions like “gonna”, “wanna” and “shoulda” American English?
As Etymonline suggests, the use of “a” meaning “have” in expressions like “should have” (shoulda), “could have” (coulda) and “would have” (woulda) were almost standard usage until the 17th century:
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Weak forms of HAVE
According to Longman Pronunciation Dictionary
HAVE: The weak form /v/ is used only after a vowel (when it is often written as the contraction ’ve), or in very fast speech at the
beginning of a ...
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In English grammar, what is the difference between a contraction and a clitic (or enclitic)?
The definition of clitic seems to encompass
that of contractions. Is there a distinction?
[A clitic] is a word that is treated in pronunciation as forming a part of a neighboring word and that is ...
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Verb contractions with thou
I know there are a lot of commonly accepted contractions (verb + not): aren't, haven't, isn't, don't, won't, shan't, etc.
But do the contractions for art not, hast not, dost not, wilt not, shalt not, ...
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"They've not" vs "They haven't" [duplicate]
They both mean the same thing. Is there a preferred context for either of them, and which should be used in which type of situation?
Some examples:
"They've not left the plane."
"They ...
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Abbreviations vs. contractions. Do they differ in pronunciation or only in spelling?
Lexico and Imperial College London say that the difference between abbreviations and contractions is that contractions omit letters in the middle and not in the end, hence Dr, for example, is a ...
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How do you abbreviate "Government"?
As far as I can tell there are eight ways to abbreviate or write the contracted form "government".
gov or Gov
gov. or Gov.
gov't or Gov't
govt. or Govt. (with the full stop/period)
Are any of these ...
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Why do not we ask negative questions without a contraction on the not after the verb?
I have found multiple questions touching on this but not a single one that has a comprehensive answer. The information is all there but in little bits.
"Do you not" vs. "Don't you&...
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Are there animacy restrictions on the use of contractions? [duplicate]
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 ...
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Do Americans say "don't" as often as the British?
This is really a question for Americans.
When watching US TV or films, it's often my impression that—while using all the other contractions—Americans don't seem so keen on 'don't' and use ...
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Using contractions in questions
I am very sure about the use of contractions in positive and negative sentences. But I am not sure about their use in questions. I've seen many examples of the use of contractions in questions, but I ...
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is "weren't you..." considered grammatically correct? Because expanded, it would translate to "were not you..." [duplicate]
Same with "wouldn't you..." because it would directly mean "would not you..."
If the goal is to communicate "would you not" or "were you not," is this a legitimate structure?
Example: Weren't you ...
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"Isn't that..." expanding to "Is not that..." [duplicate]
My question is whether the use of "isn't" in sentences of the form "Isn't she lovely?" a rule, or an exception to a rule?
Because if you expand the contraction out, then you have &...
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Does the “a” of “I'ma” extend to other pronouns?
Consider “I'ma do this” (as in “I am going to do this”). How does the a in I'ma extend in usage? Does anyone have any usage where it's used with other personal pronouns? I heard in a song recently ...
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Sentence-final contractions [duplicate]
There are some pieces of inflection like the genitive marker that can attach to phrases (cf. [The man in the hall]’s taste in wallpaper is appalling) and so they sometimes behave like a contraction. ...
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Is it all right to use “usen’t” instead of “didn’t use to”?
I know usen’t isn’t used in everyday English, but how about using it in an exam, an essay, or a formal letter?
Is it right to use usen’t instead of didn’t use to?
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Are contractions of "I am" or "I would" rude? [duplicate]
I got edited on Stack Overflow because I used "I'm", "you're" and "I'd" instead of "I am" etc.
Is it considered rude to use contractions like that in informal conversations on the internet? I would ...
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Order of Precedence in Contractions by Elision? [duplicate]
Just curious: While using contractions like you're or isn't, if there are two possible ways a word can be contracted, what is the order of precedence?
Say, for example, the sentence is "you are ...
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Word contractions in Shakespeare's plays
In Shakespeare's plays it is common to find contracted words, such as "o'er", "e'en", "sulph'uous", "ta'en". Is it just a literary device or those words were actually pronounced (in day-to-day speech) ...
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