Contractions

Contractions are formed by combining two words. The contracted word has one or more letter missing. The missing letters are replaced by an apostrophe ('). Contractions may be formed by joining an auxiliary verb with not or by joining a pronoun with an auxiliary verb. The table below lists the most common contractions next to their non-contracted forms.

Non-Contracted FormContracted Form Non-Contracted FormContracted Form
are not aren't you have you've
cannot / can not can't you will you'll
could not couldn't you would / you had you'd
did not didn't he is / he has he's
does not doesn't he will he'll
do not don't he would / he had he'd
has not hasn't she is / she has she's
have not hasn't she will she'll
had not hadn't she would / she had she'd
is not isn't it is / it has it's
should not shouldn't it will it'll
were not weren't we are we're
will not won't we have we've
would not wouldn't we will / we shall we'll
I am I'm we would / we had we'd
I have I've they have they've
I will / I shallI'llthey will they'll
I would / I should / I had I'd they would / they had they'd
you are you're