What is a Contraction?

Contractions are shortened word combinations (or forms) that are

characterized by the omission of letters and sounds. In English, this is often
achieved through the elision (deletion) of certain letters and replacement
with an apostrophe (” ‘ “).

Contraction words can usually include forms that combine a pronoun and a

verb, or an auxiliary verb and a negative modifier. For example, the usual
conjugation structure of the pronoun “I” and the verb “to be” is “I am”. In its
contracted form, this conjugation becomes “I’m”.

How to Pronounce Contractions in English with Alphabetical List of

Contractions.

Types Of Contractions
There are at least two main types of contractions. These types
include contracted auxiliary verbs and negative contractions.

Another type of contraction word is one that does not include elision and
replacement by an apostrophe. This contraction is a simple combination of
two words into a new word. For example, “going to” can be contracted to
“gonna”, and “want to” can be contracted to “wanna”. These are informal in
nature.

Contractions can be used in subject-auxiliary inversion, meaning the

contraction can switch places with the subject and used as an auxiliary verb.
This is often used in questions. For example, “She is not” can be contracted
to “She isn’t”, and that in turn can be inverted into the question “Isn’t she?”.

How to Write Contractions Words

To write contractions, you generally must delete a portion of a word in a
two-word phrase (like the “a” in “You are”), close any space between those
words, and replace the missing letter with an apostrophe (“You’re”).
Contractions List
List of Contractions of Auxiliaries
The verb “to be” can take on many conjugated forms (like “is”, “are”, and
“am”). In turn, these conjugated forms can be made into contractions when
associated with a noun or pronoun. For example:

 “I am” becomes “I’m” (for example, “I’m a teacher”), an ” ‘m ”

contraction,
 “She is” becomes “She’s” (for example, “She’s a doctor”) an ” ‘s ”
contraction,
 “They are” becomes “They’re” (for example, “They’re professionals” or
“They’re accountants”) a ” ‘re ” contraction, or
 “The dog is” becomes “The dog’s” (for example, “The dog’s healthy”),
an ” ‘s ” contraction used with not with a pronoun (I, she), but with a
noun (dog).
It should be noted that the ” ‘s” contraction can be used to indicate
a possessive form. For example, “The worker is tall” is contracted to “The
worker’s tall” in an auxiliary verb form, but “The lunchbox of the worker” can
be contracted to “The worker’s lunchbox” to indicate possession.

Other contracted auxiliary verb forms include those for:

 have (” ‘ve”),
 had (” ‘d”),
 has, (” ‘ve”), or
 will (” ‘ll”).
The contractions of auxiliary verbs are as follows:

 ‘m for am
 ‘s for is
 ‘re for are
 ‘ve for have
 ‘s for has
 ‘d for had
  ‘ll for will
Negative Contractions List
These contractions words usually involve taking the “o” out of “not” and
replacing it with an apostrophe “n’t”. Examples include:

 “be” (“is not” contracts to “isn’t”),

 “have” (“have not” contracts to “haven’t”),
 “do” (“do not” contracts to “don’t”),
 “can” (“can not” contracts to “can’t”),
 “will”, (“will not” contracts to “won’t”), and
 shall (“should not” contracts to “shouldn’t”).
List of negative contractions words:

 Forms of be: isn’t, aren’t, wasn’t, weren’t

 Forms of have: haven’t, hasn’t, hadn’t
 Modal
verbs: can’t, couldn’t, mayn’t,  mightn’t, mustn’t, shan’t, shouldn’t, won’t 
, wouldn’t, needn’t, oughtn’t.
 Forms of do: don’t, doesn’t, didn’t
Special Cases
 Let’s for  let us
 O’ in o’clock

Alphabetical List of Contractions

 aren’t – are not
 can’t – cannot
 couldn’t – could not
 didn’t – did not
 doesn’t – does not
 don’t – do not
 hadn’t – had not
 hasn’t – has not
 haven’t – have not
 he’d – he had; he would
 he’ll – he will; he shall
 he’s – he is; he has
 I’d – I had; I would
 I’ll – I will; I shall
 I’m – I am
 I’ve – I have
 isn’t – is not
 let’s – let us
 mightn’t – might not
 mustn’t – must not
 shan’t – shall not
 she’d – she had; she would
 she’ll – she will; she shall
 she’s – she is; she has
 shouldn’t – should not
 that’s – that is; that has
 there’s – there is; there has
 they’d – they had; they would
 they’ll – they will; they shall
 they’re – they are
 they’ve – they have
 we’d – we had; we would
 we’re – we are
 we’ve – we have
 weren’t – were not
 what’ll – what will; what shall
 what’re – what are
 what’s – what is; what has
 what’ve – what have
 where’s – where is; where has
 who’d – who had; who would
 who’ll – who will; who shall
 who’re – who are
 who’s – who is; who has
 who’ve – who have
 won’t – will not
 wouldn’t – would not
 you’d – you had; you would
 you’ll – you will; you shall
 you’re – you are
 you’ve – you have