What is contractions words

Most contractions ending in 'd and 's are ambiguous. The 'd can represent either had or would ; 's can represent either has or is. All the same, the meaning of these contractions is usually clear from their context.

For instance, " Sam's finished his term paper" implies completion in the past Sam has finished , while " Sam's tired" is in the present tense, meaning Sam is. They may look odd in print, but certain multiple contractions such as I'd've or I'd'a and wouldn't've are fairly common in speech. We like shortcuts, so it's easy to say something like, "If I'd've told you the real reason, you probably wouldn't've come back with me.

The words just run together as we talk. Under the category of rarities, there are a few double and even triple contracted nautical terms.

These include words like bo's'n short for boatswain and fo'c's'le a variant of forecastle , words that landlubbers can probably live without. Before you start recklessly sprinkling apostrophes everywhere, make sure you're not putting an apostrophe plus s on something that should actually be plural: i.

Another common type of linguistic shortening or elision is the omission of certain sounds or letters from an individual word. In phonetics, elision at the beginning of a word for instance, gator from alligator is called aphaeresis. In the middle of a word ma'am from madam , it is a syncope. When it appears at the end of a word ad from advertisement , we call it an apocope.

Aphaeresis and apocope can occur together, as in flu —a clipped form of influenza. In the following table, you'll find a list of more than 70 contractions in English.

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Measure content performance. Word lists shared by our community of dictionary fans. Sign up now or Log in. Definitions Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English. Click on the arrows to change the translation direction. Follow us. Choose a dictionary. Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English. Usage explanations of natural written and spoken English.

Grammar Thesaurus. Word Lists. Choose your language. Adjectives Adjectives: forms Adjectives: order Adjective phrases: functions Adjective phrases: position Adjectives and adjective phrases: typical errors. Comparison: adjectives bigger , biggest , more interesting Comparison: clauses bigger than we had imagined Comparison: comparisons of equality as tall as his father As … as.

Adverbs Adverb phrases Adverbs and adverb phrases: position Adverbs and adverb phrases: typical errors Adverbs: forms Adverbs: functions Adverbs: types Comparison: adverbs worse, more easily Fairly Intensifiers very, at all Largely Much , a lot , lots , a good deal : adverbs Pretty Quite Rather Really Scarcely Very. Above or over? Across , over or through? Advice or advise? Affect or effect? All or every? All or whole? Allow , permit or let?

Almost or nearly? Alone , lonely , or lonesome? Along or alongside? Already , still or yet? Also , as well or too? Alternate ly , alternative ly Although or though? Altogether or all together? Amount of , number of or quantity of? Any more or anymore? Anyone , anybody or anything? Apart from or except for? Arise or rise? Around or round? Arouse or rouse? As or like? As , because or since? As , when or while? Been or gone? Begin or start? Beside or besides? Between or among? Born or borne?

Bring , take and fetch Can , could or may? Classic or classical? Come or go? Consider or regard? Consist , comprise or compose? Content or contents? Different from , different to or different than? Do or make? Down , downwards or downward? During or for? Each or every? East or eastern ; north or northern? Economic or economical? Efficient or effective? Elder , eldest or older , oldest? End or finish?

Especially or specially? Except or except for? Expect , hope or wait? Experience or experiment? In English, there are a fairly small number of contractions, and they're all made out of common words. Here are some of the contractions you'll see the most:. You might have noticed that the word won't is a little different from the other contractions. It means will not , even though the word will isn't there. This is because won't is based on a much older form of the word will.

Even though the word changed, the contraction stayed the same! If anyone tells you that you should never use contractions in writing, they're wrong. It's perfectly OK to use contractions in most writing, including newspapers , fiction , and instructions. In fact, using contractions can make your writing simpler and easier to read. However, if you're writing an academic paper or anything else that's formal , you may want to avoid contractions.

If you're writing for school, it might be a good idea to ask your teacher if contractions are OK. Next: Possessives.