What are contractions in writing? Can you use contractions in formal writing?

Are you confused about word contractions: What they are, how to form them, and when you can and can’t use contractions in writing?

These abbreviations are formed by putting together two words in order to make one shorter word, like “isn’t”, “can’t” or “I’m”.

Native English speakers use contractions every day without even thinking about it. But when you’re learning English, it can be difficult to know when to use contractions in order to sound natural. There are also some special considerations around the use of contractions in formal or academic writing.

This article will help you understand why and how contractions are used in English, and explain the grammar rules surrounding them, so you feel more confident knowing when you should or shouldn’t use word contractions yourself.

What is a contraction in English grammar?

Contractions in writing and speaking are formed by combining two or more other words into one. When writing contractions, an apostrophe replaces the missing letter(s) and the space between the original words disappears.

Most common contractions represent a pronoun + a verb (be, have, would), or a verb + ‘not’. There are a few other possibilities that we will explain later on.

These are common examples of word contractions:

• I am > I’m
• They have > They’ve
• Is not > Isn’t
• She will > She’ll
• Should not > Shouldn’t
• Who would > Who’d

Find a full list of contractions at the end of this article.

Note that there is a finite list of contractions that you can use in English, and there are specific rules about how to use them, which we will look at in a moment. You cannot simply make up your own contractions from different word combinations whenever you feel like it.

You’ll find that in some cases, a contraction has two or three possible meanings. For instance, “he’d” can mean “he had” or “he would”. The context will tell you which is correct.

For example:

• He’d only run half the race when he injured himself. (He had)
• He’d love to visit Spain one day. (He would)
• She’s very energetic. (She is)
• She’s had a lovely day. (She has)

It’s possible that this contributes to incorrect phrases like ‘I wish I’d have done…’ (‘I wish I would have…’ is a colloquial but grammatically incorrect construction) being confused with ‘I wish I’d done…’ (‘I had done’ is correct here).

Why are contractions used in English?

Some of the main reasons we use contractions are:

• They shorten words, making it easier and faster to convey ideas as you speak and write
• When speaking, they make words flow more naturally
• When written, they make your writing seem more conversational and can help the reader feel included
• In headlines and other texts where characters are limited, they help you add more information in fewer words.

When to avoid contractions in writing and speech

You will hear contractions used in most forms of speech, except in particularly formal settings.

When it comes to writing these words, contractions can be found in pieces of writing with a personal, conversational tone. The more often you use contractions in writing, the more casual it will sound.

In this article, for example, you’ll see that not every possible shortened form is used (note ‘it will’ in the sentence above), but we do use contractions to improve the flow of sentences and help the text sound as natural as possible.

In deciding whether to use contractions in your own writing, it’s important to consider the tone you wish to convey. A complete lack of contracted words will make your writing appear very rigid and formal.

Adding emphasis by omitting contractions

Another reason to omit a contraction is to add emphasis or strengthen a statement, often when contradicting what has just been said. This can be especially useful in written English when you can’t use your tone of voice to convey your message.

Let’s look at a few examples:

Girl: Dad, I’m going out on a date with my boyfriend tonight.
Father: No you are not!

Friend 1: She won’t turn up tonight.
Friend 2: She will come, I know it!

I have had enough! I can not work in these conditions any longer.

Can you use contractions in formal writing?

We use contractions in most spoken English, and in informal written English. They are less commonly used in professional and formal writing, and may be frowned upon in formal essays and scholarly writing because they make it sound too casual.

Although it’s often recommended that writers refrain from using contractions altogether in academic contexts, there are some notable exceptions where the use of contractions in formal writing is generally permitted:

• When quoting someone directly: If their quote includes a contraction, you should not change it.
• When using an idiom, saying, or proverb that contains a contraction: Some common phrases contain contracted words, and changing them would sound awkward. E.g. ‘Beggars can’t be choosers’ or ‘Time flies when you’re having fun’. Whether you should be using such colloquial phrases in formal writing is another matter!
• When writing about contractions: Of course, if your writing is about the topic of contractions then it would be impossible to avoid using them to give examples.
• When deliberately using a more casual, personal tone of voice: If you do decide to use contractions in formal writing for this reason, make sure it is intentional.

If you’re unsure whether using contractions is acceptable in a particular piece of writing – formal or otherwise – we’d recommend consulting your style guide, if you are using one. There are four main style guides used by writers in the US, with dozens more that you may encounter as a writer in specific niches.

In other semi-formal contexts, such as business presentations or company blog posts, the rules will depend on the company’s brand voice and the tone they wish to portray. Larger organizations should have a style guide that you can consult for further information about using contractions and other abbreviations.

Common mistakes and confusion with contractions

Having covered the basics of creating contractions and the general rules around when and when not to use them, let’s look at some of the more complex rules that often cause confusion.

Confusing contractions with possessive pronouns

This is a common mistake with contractions since some sound the same as possessive pronouns. For example:

• They’re and their
• You’re and your
• It’s and its
• Who’s and whose

These homophones cause confusion to even native speakers, but you can click the links above for more information about each one. The simple rule to remember is that possessive pronouns never contain an apostrophe.

To confuse matters further, we can also form contractions using a noun + ‘s, which ends up looking the same as a possessive noun. For example:

• Trevor’s very kind. (Contraction – Trevor is)
• Trevor’s wife is very kind. (Possessive – the wife of Trevor)

Just remember that if you can replace the “‘s” with “is”, you’re looking at a contraction. Otherwise, it is possessive.

‘Have’ sometimes can’t be contracted

The verb ‘have’ can be used in a number of different ways grammatically, and only in some of these may it be contracted.

You can contract ‘have’ when it is used to form present tenses (past or present) or as part of the phrase ‘have got(ten)’.

• I’ve been driving for five hours. (I have been)
• He’d taken three bites of the apple before realizing it was rotten. (He had taken)
• We’ve got to think of some new ideas. (We have got)
• She’d gotten to the point of no return. (She had gotten)
• You’ve got two minutes to convince me. (You have got)

You cannot contract ‘have’ when it is used to indicate possession or necessity (have to).

• I have one car. (Not “I’ve”)
• He has black hair. (Not “He’s”)
• They have to tell us the truth. (Not “they’ve”)
• We have to be at the airport by 9pm. (Not “We’ve”)

This said, the ‘have to’ construction may occasionally be heard with contractions in British English, especially among older generations.

Using contractions at the end of sentences

You may have noticed that most of the example sentences so far feature contractions at the beginning. This is because the types of words that form contractions usually fall at the beginning of a sentence or clause.

There is one common exception, which is when giving a negative answer to a yes/no question using ‘not’. For example:

Q: Are you free tonight?
A: Yes, I am. (Not “I’m”)
A: No, I’m not / No, I am not.

Q: Would he like to join us?
A: Yes, he would. (Not “He’d”)
A: No, he wouldn’t / No, he would not.

In any other examples where a pair of words that could be contracted fall at the very end of a sentence, they should be kept separate. This can occur in indirect questions. For example:

• I don’t know where you are. (Not “I don’t know where you’re.”)
• Can you tell me how much it is? (Not “Can you tell me how much it’s?”)

However, the sentence “I don’t know where you’re going.” is grammatically correct.

When a contraction can be formed two ways

Some sentences using “not” can be contracted in two different ways, for example:

• She is not: She’s not / She isn’t
• They are not: They’re not / They aren’t
• You are not: You’re not / You aren’t

In these cases, there is no hard and fast rule about which construction to use, but you may choose one over the other because it makes the sentence flow more naturally. If you’re not sure which to use, try saying the sentence out loud with each contraction and see which one sounds better to you.

If you particularly want to emphasize “not” then use the first option in the examples above and leave “not” out of the contraction.

Double contractions with three words

Sometimes contractions can be used to shorten three words into one, resulting in two apostrophes to indicate where each join is made.

Here are some examples of double contractions:

• I’d’ve (I would have)
• Who’d’ve (Who would have)
• That’ll’ve (That will have)
• She’ll’ve (She will have)
• Can’t’ve (Can not have)
• Mightn’t’ve (Might not have)
• Wouldn’t’ve (Would not have)
• Shouldn’t’ve (Should not have)

These are even more colloquial than two-word contractions, and present another good example of when not to use contractions in writing, unless you are deliberately mimicking the way a person speaks.

See also: What’s the difference between who and whom?

Contractions and tag questions

One occasion when contractions should always be used in spoken and written English is in negative tag questions (those consisting of a positive statement with a negative tag).

For example:

• He’s very handsome, isn’t he?
• We have $50 of our budget left, don’t we?
• You have brought the picnic mat, haven’t you?

The alternative would be to say “is he not?”, “do we not?”, etc. Although these are grammatically correct constructions, they sound quite old-fashioned and it’s best to avoid them unless you are intentionally aiming for this tone of voice.

Contractions are often, but not always, used as part of the negative statement when the tag is positive.

Word contractions list

Here is a full list of common word contractions (except those using ‘not’, which are in a separate table below). We have noted those that are usually only spoken, rather than written.

If you need help knowing when to use shall or will, check our separate guide.

Next, here is a list of contractions using ‘not’:

Finally, here is a list of more unusual, colloquial contractions that don’t fit the patterns described above. Some are regional slang and others are old-fashioned words, so you may not hear them used often, and you should be cautious using them yourself unless you are confident of the appropriate usage.

You’ll see we have some single-word contractions as well as some contractions without apostrophes in this list.

We hope this comprehensive guide to contractions and how to use them has been helpful. This is one important aspect of how to use apostrophes correctly, but you can learn more in our full guide.

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