In English, it is common to see reduced forms of words joined together by an apostrophe. These forms are called contractions. We use contractions to represent the pronunciation of informal speech. Using contractions is both common and correct in informal writing. However, contractions are avoided when writing in a formal style.




There are two kinds of contractions. The first kind is formed by joining a pronoun, question word, or a noun with a verb. The second kind is formed by joining a verb with not. Below is a table giving examples of each type.

Verb Contractions	Negative Contractions
My sister's not here. I'm hungry. You're beautiful. He'll join us later. We're the best! They've lost! There's still time. Where's your car. What'll I do?	I can't hear you. She won't mind. You haven't finished. Aren't you ready, yet? Isn't this fun? You shouldn't say that.

Contracted forms with auxiliary verbs (the first group) are always unstressed. Therefore, they can never appear at the end of sentences where words are stressed. Compare the following two sentences. Only one is possible.

CORRECT: They don't know who I am.
INCORRECT: They don't know who I'm.




In contrast, contracted forms with not (the second group) can be stressed, and therefore can appear at the end of sentences.

CORRECT: You think you are the best, but you are not.
CORRECT: You think you are the best, but you're not.
CORRECT: You think you are the best, but you aren't.




As you can see above, some expressions with negatives can be contracted in two ways. For example, you + are + not can be contracted as either you're not or you aren't. Both types of contracted negative forms of the verb To Be are common in American and British English.




Certain contractions of negative forms with To Have, however, are less common in American and British English. For example, she + has + not can be contracted as either she's not or she hasn't. While contracted forms like she hasn't are comon everywhere, contracted forms like she's not are more common in northern and Scottish English.




Some contractions have more than one meaning. Learners of English find this confusing sometimes since 's can mean either is or has and 'd can mean either would or had. In such cases, a knowledge of English grammar can help you decide which meaning is intended by the contraction. For example, in the sentence "She'd go if she had time," the 'd is obviously the contracted form of would because would is followed an infinitive form whereas had never is. In the sentence, "She'd gone twice already," the 'd is obviously the contracted form of had because had is followed by a past participle whereas would never is.





Learners sometimes mistakenly think the apostrophe points at the word boundary where the two words meet. Such a rule works with contractions such as they're, I'm, and let's ( = let + us), but it does not work with contractions such as isn't. Notice that, in fact, the apostrophe always points to what is missing from the contraction. In the contraction I'm, the apostrophe points to where the a used to be. In the contraction isn't, the apostrophe points to where the o used to be. Below are some examples of other apostrophe errors and how to fix them.

INCORRECT: I'am confused.
CORRECT: I'm confused.

INCORRECT: We did'nt know.
CORRECT: We didn't know.

INCORRECT: You must'nt make this mistake.
CORRECT: You mustn't make this mistake.





Below is a list of contractions and their meanings. To hear how each is pronounced, click on the play button in the Pronunciation column.

Pronunciation	Contracted Forms	Meaning
	I'm I've I'll I'd	I am I have I will I would; I had
	you're you've you'll you'd	you are you have you will you would; you had
	he's he'll he'd	he is; he has he will he would; he had
	she's she'll she'd	she is; she has she will she would; she had
	it's it'll it'd	it is; it has it will it would; it had
	we're we've we'll we'd	we are we have we will we would; we had
	they're they've they'll they'd	they are they have they will they would; they had
	that's that'll	that is that will
	what's what'll	what is what will
	there's there're there've there'll there'd	there is there are there have there will there would; there had
	aren't isn't wasn't weren't	are not is not was not were not
	hasn't haven't hadn't	has not have not had not
	doesn't don't didn't	does not do not did not
	can't couldn't	can not could not
	won't wouldn't	will not would not
	shan't shouldn't	shall not should not
	mustn't needn't	must not need not