Contractions are shortened forms of words or word groups, in which some letters or sounds are omitted. An apostrophe usually marks the omission—for example, do not becomes don’t. Here is a list of 80 standard contractions used in English.
| Contraction | Meaning |
|---|---|
| don’t | do not |
| didn’t | did not |
| isn’t | is not |
| wasn’t | was not |
| aren’t | are not (also am not) |
| weren’t | were not |
| hasn’t | has not |
| haven’t | have not |
| hadn’t | had not |
| can’t | cannot |
| couldn’t | could not |
| shan’t | shall not |
| shouldn’t | should not |
| won’t | will not |
| wouldn’t | would not |
| mightn’t | might not |
| mustn’t | must not |
| oughtn’t | ought not |
| needn’t | need not |
| could’ve | could have |
| should’ve | should have |
| would’ve | would have |
| might’ve | might have |
| must’ve | must have |
| I’m | I am |
| you’re | you are |
| she’s | she is, she has |
| he’s | he is, he has |
| it’s | it is, it has |
| we’re | we are |
| they’re | they are |
| I’ve | I have |
| you’ve | you have |
| we’ve | we have |
| they’ve | they have |
| I’ll | I will |
| you’ll | you will |
| he’ll | he will |
| she’ll | she will |
| it’ll | it will |
| we’ll | we will |
| they’ll | they will |
| I’d | I had, I would |
| you’d | you had, you would |
| she’d | she had, she would |
| he’d | he had, he would |
| it’d | it had, it would |
| we’d | we had, we would |
| they’d | they had, they would |
| that’s | that is, that has |
| that’ve | that have |
| that’d | that would |
| which’ve | which have |
| who’s | who is, who has |
| who’re | who are |
| who’ve | who have |
| who’d | who had, who would |
| who’ll | who will |
| what’s | what is, what has, what does |
| what’re | what are |
| what’ll | what will |
| where’s | where is, where has |
| where’d | where did |
| when’s | when is, when has |
| why’s | why is, why has |
| why’d | why did |
| how’s | how is, how has |
| here’s | here is |
| there’s | there is, there has |
| there’ll | there will |
| there’d | there had, there would |
| someone’s | someone is, someone has |
| somebody’s | somebody is, somebody has |
| no one’s | no one is, no one has |
| nobody’s | nobody is, nobody has |
| something’s | something is, something has |
| nothing’s | nothing is, nothing has |
| let’s | let us |
| ma’am | madam |
| o’clock | of the clock |
Additionally, all proper and common nouns can combine with forms of the be and have verbs as well as with the modal verbs will and would to form contractions. Such noun + verb contractions are used more often in speech than in writing.
Contractions are seen in all but the most formal usage. Although avoided in formal texts, such as academic and business writing, they are common in speech and informal writing. Read more in this article on when to use contractions.
