Contractions in Grammar - Definition, Use and Examples

Contractions are a combination of two words that are shortened by the omission of one or more letters. In English grammar, an apostrophe is used to indicate the missing letters. Contractions often occur with a subject and a verb or when a helping verb or a modal verb is shortened into its negative form.

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

While speaking, we use contractions naturally and effortlessly. However, in written communication, extra care is required as there is a risk of confusing contractions with similar-sounding words. For instance, ‘your’ and ‘you’re’ are often mixed up. Here are some rules to remember when using contractions in writing.

• To form negatives, simply add ‘not’ to the verb. For be verbs, do verbs, have verbs, and modal verbs, combine the two words into a contraction. For example, ‘are not’ becomes ‘aren’t’.
• When forming a contraction, the ‘o’ in ‘not’ is removed and replaced with an apostrophe. For instance, ‘should not’ becomes ‘shouldn’t’.
• Subject and verb contractions occur when pronouns are used with be verbs, have verbs, and modal verbs. For instance, ‘I have’ becomes ‘I’ve’.

A common rule that applies to all contractions is the placement of the apostrophe. The apostrophe is used to indicate the missing letters in the word and should be placed where the letters are omitted.

To help you understand how contractions are formed in English, we provide a list of commonly used contractions in daily conversations and writings.

Certain contractions can be confusing as they sound similar to other words. Here are some examples:

• 'You’re', a contraction of 'you are', is often confused with the possessive pronoun 'your'.
• 'Who’s', a contraction of 'who is' or 'who has', is often mistaken for the relative pronoun 'whose'.
• 'It’s', a contraction of 'it is', is often confused with the possessive pronoun 'its'.
• 'Ain’t' is an informal contraction that is rarely used in everyday conversation or professional writing. It can be a contraction of 'am not', 'are not', 'is not', 'has not', or 'have not'.

Contractions are frequently used in literature. Besides standard contractions, some authors and poets use their creative freedom to create "poetic contractions" by omitting letters from words and indicating the omission with an apostrophe.