Contractions

A contraction in English is a word or phrase that has been reduced from one or more letters and where the space left by such reduction is taken by an apostrophe (‘) . Contractions in English

The contractions in English help us to establish a more conversational tone in conversations, so it is advisable to use text messages, blogs, notes, personal essays and in any facet that does not require formality.

However, if you want to give a more formal touch to any writing, it is advisable to avoid using any contraction .

Common contractions in English

1. The verb ‘TO BE’ in the present simple and continuous

Examples of Contractions in English:

When we speak in the present continuous tense we use the verb ‘TO BE’ as an auxiliary with contractions in English as well, with the gerund of the main verb.

Examples:

* It can also be “working” (for objects and ideas etc.)

2. The verb ‘TO HAVE’ in the Present Perfect and the Past Perfect

As you know, we use the verb ‘TO HAVE’ as an auxiliary to form the tenses ‘present perfect’ and ‘past perfect’, but we also use contractions in English with the verb before the participle:

Examples of contractions – Present Perfect:

* It can also mean ‘working’ (for objects and ideas etc.)

3. Eye! Common mistakes with contractions in English

There are some common complications and errors between the PRESENT CONTINUOUS and the PERFECT PRESENT in relation to the 3rd person with contractions in English. Think in the context of the sentence and the constructions, it is necessary to avoid common mistakes.

Examples:

The contractions in English, as we have seen, with ‘HE IS’ and with ‘HE HAS’ in the PRESENT SIMPLE (‘ TO BE ‘) and THE PRESENT PERFECT (‘ TO HAVE ‘) are the same. Then it is very easy to make a mistake of understanding. However, there are important rules that can help you:

If the contraction is followed by an object , an adjective or a form of the verb in the gerund , the verb is ‘ TO BE ‘

If the contraction is followed by a participle, the verb is ‘ TO HAVE ‘

4. Modal and auxiliary verbs with negative forms

As we know, when we use modal verbs (Modal Verbs) as auxiliaries they do not change form: they have no conjugations, and there are no negative forms of those verbs , but we can create negative forms without changing the form of the modal verb .

Negative forms sometimes seem ‘irregular’ because they do not follow the usual rule of normal contractions in English . In the table below there are no person changes and we always use the infinitive afterwards.

Examples:

More examples – the form does not change

I can work
I cannot work
I can’t work

I could speak French
I could not speak French
I couldn’t speak French etc.

5. Colloquial English contractions

There are some examples of contractions in English when we mix two words to create a unique contraction, and they are very common in movies or in real conversations between native speakers .

The verbs in which we use this form are ‘ TO GO ‘ and ‘ TO WANT ‘ but we do not use the word ‘TO’ with this contraction in English:

For example:

«I’m going to have lunch» becomes
«I’m gonna have lunch», without ‘TO’

Examples with ‘TO GO’:

Examples with ‘TO WANT’:

The above rule about the use of the word ‘ TO ‘ also works with the verb ‘ WANT ‘. For example ‘I want to have lunch’ is changed to ‘I wanna have lunch’, without ‘TO’.

eye! – This contraction in English does not work on the 3rd person

And finally there is a contraction in English, very common among people when talking informally to ask something: it works in the 2nd person, singular or plural, and with any infinitive after the contraction: