Contractions might seem easy, but it's something that ELLs tend to struggle with—not what contractions are, but when contractions are naturally used.
You might already be familiar with what a contraction is, but let's review anyway:
Helping/Main Verb: "Is"
I + am = I'm
It/he/she + is = it's/he's/she's
You/we + are = you're/we're
Helping Verb: "Has/Have"
It/he/she + has = it's/he's/she's
We/you/they + have = We've/you've/they've
Should/could/would + have = should've/could've/would've
Helping Verb: "Will"
It/he/she/they/you + will = it'll/he'll/she'll/they'll/you'll
Negation: "Not"
Can + not = can't
Do + not = don't, doesn't, didn't
Will + not = won't
Is/was/were + not = isn't/wasn't/weren't
Whether you use a contraction or not determines whether you sound like a native speaker of English. It's like when a native English speaker who's learning Spanish has trouble knowing when to pronounce the subject in a Spanish sentence. This just takes practice and active listening.
Common Mistakes
Probably the most common mistake with contractions is confusing verb contractions with possessive adjectives. These are sometimes hard to distinguish since they're pronounced the same and the rules seem inconsistent. You can learn more about this in the Possessive Adjectives section of our grammar guide, but here's a basic rundown:
You're is a contraction of you + are.
Your is a possessive adjective.
It's is a contraction of it + is.
Its is a possessive adjective.
They're is a contraction of they + are.
Their is a possessive adjective.
There is a demonstrative adjective.
Weirdly, there are some words that contain apostrophes that are not contractions. Pay attention to the possessive:
That pacifier is Maggie's.
Maggie's pacifier is missing.
That pacifier is hers.
Her pacifier is missing.
"Maggie's" is not a contraction because it can't be un-contracted: the apostrophe doesn't take the place of anything. And remember, don't use an apostrophe with possessive pronouns like "hers."
Some ambiguity
Take the following phrase, for example:
the boat's sinking
This example is ambiguous (or unclear) since it can have two meanings:
- If boat's is a contraction, then it means that the boat is sinking and it's a complete sentence.
- If boat's is a possessive noun, then the "sinking" belongs to the boat. It's the boat's sinking that caused the passengers to panic.
Our point? Look out for possessive nouns. We'll keep saying this over and over again. Possessives have apostrophes that look like contractions. Again, since the apostrophe doesn't take the place of anything, it's not a contraction.
Ain't that the truth?
Your English teachers will tell you not to use the word "ain't," but we like it. It's versatile and fun and there's really nothing wrong with it. It's just stigmatized, that poor little "ain't."
So we're going to teach you about it, but you have to promise not to use it in English class; your teacher would kill us. Promise? Okay. Here we go.
Ain't is generally used to mark negation. You can use it in place of am/is/are + not and have/has + not, but you can also use it in place of do/does/did + not, too. Here are some examples:
- They ain't coming. = They aren't coming.
- I ain't ever done that. = I've never done that.
- He ain't done nothing. = He didn't do anything.
- Ain't no mountain high enough. = There isn't a mountain high enough.
Yeah, it's pretty cool. We just thought you should know, since this is a section on English contractions and all. However, "ain't" isn't Standard American English (regrettably) and would be considered a mistake if you used it in an academic essay. So...don't.