A Comprehensive Guide To Contractions In English 

If you’ve been learning English for a while now, you’ve probably noticed that native speakers use lots of contractions in English when they speak. And even sometimes when they write. 

I used the same one twice in that opening sentence: “you’ve”, which is a contraction of “you have”. 

A contraction, or short form is a type of abbreviation, where you add an apostrophe in place of the missing letters. 

In this post, you’ll (that’s another one!) discover everything you need to know about contractions in English including: 

• What they are and how to use them
• The most common contractions 
• How contractions can help you sound more natural 
• Rules for using contractions in English

So let’s get into it! That was another contraction by the way. 

What Are Contractions In English?

So as I mentioned in the introduction, contractions are a type of abbreviation that involve a pronoun or noun plus a verb, or a verb and “not”. 

The verbs used with contractions are auxiliary verbs, like “can” or “would”, or “be” and “have” when they’re not auxiliary verbs. In a contraction, there’s an apostrophe in place of the missing letter.

In the table below, you can see the most common contractions. Above you can see the full form and below, the contraction. 

You may have noticed some confusing aspects of contractions in this table. 

For example, the contraction, ‘s, can replace “is” or “has”. 

• He’s late for class again (= he is late)
• She’s visited 10 different countries (= she has visited) 

But when the contraction ‘s is used with “let”, it’s the abbreviation of “let us”, not “is” or “has”. 

• Let’s go! 

The contraction ‘d also has two possible meanings, “would” or “had”: 

• She’d be here if she were free (= she would) 
• He’d already arrived before you left (=he had) 

One big mistake that native speakers make in writing is confusing “its” and “it’s”. Do you know the difference between them? 

• It’s is of course the contraction of “it is” or “it has” 
• But “its” is a possessive pronoun 

Let’s look at a couple of examples: 

• It’s been raining all afternoon (it has been raining) 
• Has the cat eaten its dinner? (the dinner belongs to the cat)

Why Should I Use Contractions? And When? 

Contractions will help your spoken English sound more natural. At school, you probably learned English through reading and writing.

And it’s true that contractions are less common in formal writing. Maybe your teachers encouraged you to write “cannot” instead of “can’t”. 

But when people speak, it’s common to use contractions almost all the time. 

Compare the two examples below of someone introducing themselves: 

• Hi. My name is Anna. I am a teacher. I have worked at this school for twenty years.
• Hi. My name’s Anna. I’m a teacher. I’ve worked at this school for twenty years.

The first example would be ok in writing, but in speech it would sound unnatural. It’s much more normal and natural to use contractions in speech, like the second example.

Contractions are also common in informal writing like text messages, social media posts, letters to friends etc. The only situation where you may want to avoid using contractions is in formal writing, such as academic essays. 

But when you speak, use contractions more often. Using them will also help your listening skills. Sometimes native speakers are hard to understand because they use contractions. But if you can say them, it’ll be easier for you to hear them. 

Other Contractions In English

Contractions, especially the ‘s contraction, are common with question words, such as “who” or “what”, as well as with “that”, “there” and “here”. You can also use contractions with nouns. Just like with question words, the ‘s contraction is used a lot. 

Here are a few examples:

• Dave’s going to come over later = Dave is
• Who’ll be there tonight? = who will 
• Where’s he been? = where has 
• You dad’ll take you = dad will 
• That’s your new teacher = that is 
• Who’s the man at the bar? = who is 

Just be aware that contractions with nouns are less common in writing, even if they’re perfectly acceptable in speech. 

Also, avoid this common mistake native speakers make: mixing up the contraction “who’s” with “whose”. 

• Who’s coming to the party? = Who is coming? 
• Whose jacket is that? = Who does it belong to?

Negative English Contractions With Auxiliary Verbs And “Not” 

Contractions can also have negative forms. These occur with auxiliary verbs like “should” or “must” and “not”, as well as with “be”, “have” and “do” when they’re auxiliary verbs. 

Once again, you'll see the “full form” first and then the contraction:

When creating a negative contraction with “is” or “are, you have two possibilities: 

You can say or write: 

• He isn’t OR he’s not 
• We aren't OR we’re not 

Both of these forms are acceptable and you’ll hear and see both of them. 

That said, the “isn’t” and “aren’t” contractions are more common after nouns, whereas the ” ‘s” and ” ’re not” contractions are more common after pronouns:

• The report isn't finished.
• He’s not able to help us.

The contraction “won’t” doesn’t follow the same pattern as the other negative contractions with auxiliary verbs does it? That’s because “won’t” is based on an older form of the word “will”.  

Rules For Using Contractions English 

You’ll see and hear contractions all the time in English, so if you start paying attention, you’ll soon learn how to use them too. 

But it can be helpful to know about some typical mistakes with contractions so you can avoid them.

You Can’t Use More Than One Contraction 

You can’t combine contractions. So even though you have the choice between “he isn’t tall” and “he’s not tall”, you can’t use both. So you can’t say “he’sn’t tall”. You have to choose one form or the other. 

You Can’t Use Certain Contractions At The End Of A Sentence 

It’s not possible to use the following contractions at the end of a sentence. That’s because verbs at the end of sentences are stressed, in other words, we put emphasis on them. 

• ‘m 
• ‘s
• ‘re
• ‘ve
• ‘ll
• ‘d

Let’s look at some examples: 

• A: Is he coming tonight? 
• B: Yes, he is (we have to use the full form, not the contraction “he’s”)

But there’s an exception to this rule. It’s ok to use negative contractions at the end of sentences or clauses or in tag questions. 

• She’s on her way, isn’t she? 
• No she isn’t 

Am Not In Questions 

When you ask a question, “am not” becomes “aren’t”. 

• I’m invited to the party, aren’t I? 

Contractions In English 

So there you have it – almost everything you need to know about contractions as an English learner. 

As I said right at the start, contractions are important for you to learn because they’ll help you sound more natural when you speak or when you write informally. And they're a bit easier to master than other areas like English idioms or phrasal verbs in English.

So go ahead, start using contractions more often when you speak in English. And don’t be afraid to use them in informal writing like emails or text messages to friends. 

A final piece of advice – follow the rules of StoryLearning and read books in English. As you read short stories in English that have lots of dialogue, you'll see contractions again and again. And you'll soon become familiar with them!

Olly Richards

Creator of the StoryLearning® Method

Olly Richards is a renowned polyglot and language learning expert with over 15 years of experience teaching millions through his innovative StoryLearning® method. He is the creator of StoryLearning, one of the world's largest language learning blogs with 500,000+ monthly readers.

Olly has authored 30+ language learning books and courses, including the bestselling "Short Stories" series published by Teach Yourself.

When not developing new teaching methods, Richards practices what he preaches—he speaks 8 languages fluently and continues learning new ones through his own methodology.