Contractions
- A contraction is one word made up of two words.
- We do this to make things short and trim.
- The first word usually stays the same.
- We take certain letters out of the second word.
- An apostrophe will fill the space of the missing letters.
Examples
- Have not à Haven’t
- Is not à Isn’t
- Cannot à Can’t
- I have à I’ve
- I had à I’d
- You are à You’re
- We can use contractions in normal speech and informal writing (writing notes / writing to family and friends)
- We should not use contractions in formal writing. In this case, use the original words.
Example
- ‘Do not’ rather than ‘don’t’.


- An apostrophe and an ‘s’ together on some nouns mean possession.
- The girl’s bag is stolen. (Possessive noun)
- The girl’s smart! (The girl is smart) (Contraction)
How to tell the difference?
- If the noun is followed by a second noun, then it is possessive.
- The girl’s shoes are pretty.
- Mia’s purse has gone missing.
- If the noun is followed by a verb, then it is a contraction.
- The girl’s irritated.
- Mia’s a great doctor!
Another thing to keep in mind.
- In contractions, be careful when you use (’s) and (’d)
- (How’s) could be (How is) or (How has).
- (How’d) could be (How would) or (How had).
Example
- How’s your arm? (How is)
- How’s it been? (How has it been)
- So, we have to read the sentence to figure out the correct usage.
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