In spoken English we usually say I'm / you've / didn't etc. (short forms or contractions) rather than I am / you have / did not etc. We also use these short forms in informal writing (for example, a letter or message to a friend).
When we write short forms, we use an
apostrophe(') for the missing letter(s):
I'm = I am
you've= you have
didn't= did not
List of short forms:
| 'm = am | I'm |
| 's = is or has | he's she's it's |
| 're = are | you're we're they're |
| 've = have | I've you've we've they've |
| 'll = will | I'll he'll she'll you'll we'll they'll |
| 'd = would or had | I'd he'd she'd you'd we'd they'd |
's can be
is or
has:
- She's ill. (= She is ill.)
- She's gone away. (= She has gone)
but let's = let
us:
- Let's go now. (= Let us go)
'd can be
would or
had:
- I'd see a doctor if I were you. (= I would see)
- I'd never seen her before. (= I had never seen)
We use some of these short forms (especially
's) after question words (
who/what etc.) and after
that/there/here:
who
's what
's where
's how
's that
's there
's here
's who
'll there
'll who
'd- Who's that woman over there? (= who is)
- What's happened? (= what has)
- Do you think there'll be many people at the party? (= there will)
We also use short forms (especially
's) after a noun:
- Katherine's going out tonight. (= Katherine is)
- My best friend's just got married. (= My best friend has)
You cannot use
'm / 's / 're / 've / 'll / 'd at the end of a sentence (because the verb is stressed in this position):
- 'Are you tired?' 'Yes, I am.' (not Yes, I'm .)
- Do you know where she is? (not Do you know where she's?)
Negative short forms
isn't (= is not)
aren't (= are not)
wasn't (= was not)
weren't (= were not) | don't (= do not)
doesn't (= does not)
didn't (= did not) |
haven't (= have not)
hasn't (= has not)
hadn't (= had not) | can't (= cannot)
won't (= will not)
shan't (= shall not) |
couldn't (= could not)
wouldn't (= would not)
shouldn't (= should not) | mustn't (= must not)
needn't (= need not)
daren't (= dare not) |
Negative short forms for
is and
are can be:
he isn't / she isn't / it isn't or he's not / she's not / it's not
you aren't / we aren't / they aren't or you're not / we're not / they're not
