Hi everyone!
Today I’m going to talk to you about English contractions
and in particular how, when and why to use them!
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Now, you may have noticed that the native English speakers you hear in TV shows
and movies don’t speak in quite the same way that you and your non-native friends do.
This is partly due to vocabulary,
but it also has a lot to do with the use of contractions.
Contractions in English are words that are made up of two other words,
generally with an apostrophe somewhere in the middle.
They join the two words
and they make your speech sound much more natural and less stiff.
I’ll give you an example:
I do not think it is a good idea...
You should not jump in the pool if you cannot swim!
As a native speaker, I’d say
I don’t think it’s a good idea…
You shouldn’t jump in the pool if you can’t swim!
Do you notice the difference
and how the second version flows much more naturally?
Some other languages also have contractions,
but generally these are mandatory,
such as the contractions between prepositions and articles in most Romance languages.
Almost all contractions in English are optional,
except for the word “o’clock.”
So in English, it is perfectly acceptable to use either “it is” or “it’s",
and using one instead of the other doesn’t change the meaning at all.
The only thing that could change is the perceived register,
or tone, of your speech or writing.
As a general rule, you should try to avoid most contractions in your writing,
especially in formal contexts,
but you should absolutely try to adopt
the most common contractions into your oral expression.
Some of the most commonly used contractions include:
This contraction stands for “it is” and “it’s” one of the most common contractions.
You don’t need to worry about this one in writing
because it is so widely used.
Next, I am, you are, he/she is, we are, they are become
I’m, you’re, he’s, she’s, we’re, they’re
Next, we have: "cannot" which becomes "can’t"
This one in particular will make your speech sound much less formal
and much more like a native.
do not and does not become don’t and doesn’t
I, you, he/she, we, they would
become: I’d, you’d, she’d, he’d, we’d, they’d
Now, I have a few bonus contractions for you
First,
going to becomes gonna, want to becomes wanna, and got to becomes gotta
You should definitely avoid these three in writing,
as you feel more comfortable speaking English,
and you begin speaking a bit more quickly,
these will likely appear naturally in your speech.
And my second bonus for you is:
you all becomes y’all
This fun contraction is used primarily in the Southern region of the United States
as a way to refer to a group of people.
You’ll probably hear it in movies, TV shows, and songs,
but think twice before adding it to your own vocabulary,
especially if you’ve adopted a British English accent!
As you might have noticed from these examples,
contractions are generally formed by dropping one or two letters from a word
and replacing them with an apostrophe
If you can’t remember where the apostrophe goes when writing,
think about the two original words and
which letters were dropped:
that’s where you’ll stick your apostrophe.
Contractions are super easy to form and super easy to use,
it’s just a matter of getting into the habit of using them.
That’s all for this short video.
I’ll see you again soon, and in the meantime,
challenge yourself to use some of the contractions you learned in this video
in your next conversation or casual email.
If you learned something new from this video,
give it a thumbs-up!
Then, be sure you subscribe to our channel for more English hacks!
And as always,
if you have any questions about English contractions,
leave us a comment and we’ll do our best to help!
See you next time!