Contraction

• A contraction is one word made up of two words. 
• We do this to make things short and trim. 
• The first word usually stays the same. 
• We take certain letters out of the second word. 
• An apostrophe will fill the space of the missing letters. 

Examples 

• Have not à Haven’t  
• Is not à Isn’t  
• Cannot à Can’t 
• I have à I’ve 
• I had à I’d 
• You are à You’re 

• We can use contractions in normal speech and informal writing (writing notes / writing to family and friends) 
• We should not use contractions in formal writing. In this case, use the original words. 

Example 

• ‘Do not’ rather than ‘don’t’. 

An apostrophe and an ‘s’ together on some nouns mean possession. 

• The girl’s bag is stolen. (Possessive noun) 
• The girl’s smart! (The girl is smart) (contraction) 

How to tell the difference? 

If the noun is followed by a second noun, then it is possessive. 

• The girl’s shoes are pretty 
• Mia’s purse has gone missing. 

 If the noun is followed by a verb, then it is a contraction. 

• The girl’s irritated. 
• Mia’s a great doctor!  

Another thing to keep in mind. 

• In contractions, be careful when you use (‘s) and (‘d) 
• (How’s) could be (How is) or (How has) 
• (How’d) could be (How would) or (How had) 

Example  

• How’s your arm? (How is) 
• How’s it been? (How has it been) 
• So, we have to read the sentence to figure out the correct usage.