CONTRACTIONSdarrelwinthrop@gmail.com

A contraction is a shortened form of one or two words (one of which is usually a verb). In a contraction, an apostrophe takes the place of the missing letter or letters. Some contractions are: I'm (I am), can't (cannot), how's (how is), and Ma'am (Madam).

For example, "don't" is a contraction that is short for "do not"; the apostrophe in "don't" takes the place of the missing "o". Another example is "o'clock," a contraction "of the clock." A less common example of a contraction is "jack-o'-lantern," short for "jack-of-lantern"; in it, the apostrophe takes the place of the missing "f" in "of."

EXAMPLES

BEWILLWOULDHAVEHAD

II'mI amI'llI willI'dI wouldI'veI haveI'dI had

youyou'reyou areyou'llyou willyou'dyou wouldyou'veyou haveyou'dyou had

hehe'she ishe'llhe willhe'dhe wouldhe'she hashe'dhe had

sheshe'sshe isshe'llshe willshe'dshe wouldshe'sshe hasshe'dshe had

itit's (or 'tis)it isit'llit willit'dit wouldit'sit hasit'dit had

wewe'rewe arewe'llwe willwe'dwe wouldwe'vewe havewe'dwe had

theythey'rethey arethey'llthey willthey'dthey wouldthey'vethey havethey'dthey had

thatthat'sthat isthat'llthat willthat'dthat wouldthat'sthat hasthat'dthat had

whowho'swho iswho'llwho willwho'dwho wouldwho'swho haswho'dwho had

whatwhat's/what'rewhat is/what arewhat'llwhat willwhat'dwhat wouldwhat'swhat haswhat'dwhat had

wherewhere'swhere iswhere'llwhere willwhere'dwhere wouldwhere'swhere haswhere'dwhere had

whenwhen'swhen iswhen'llwhen willwhen'dwhen wouldwhen'swhen haswhen'dwhen had

whywhy'swhy iswhy'llwhy willwhy'dwhy wouldwhy'swhy haswhy'dwhy had

howhow'show ishow'llhow willhow'dhow wouldhow'show hashow'dhow had

WORDSDOUBLE CONTRACTION

she would haveshe'd've (colloquial)

it is not'tisn't (archaic)

WORDS (negating a verb)CONTRACTION

is notisn't

are notaren't

was notwasn't

were notweren't

have nothaven't

has nothasn't

had nothadn't

will notwon't

would notwouldn't

do notdon't

does notdoesn't

did notdidn't

cannotcan't

could notcouldn't

should notshouldn't

might notmightn't

must notmustn't

WORDS (odd ones)CONTRACTION

ofo'

of the clocko'clock

madamma'am

never-do-wellne'er-do-well

cat-of-nine-tailscat-o'-nine-tails

jack-of-the-lanternjack-o'-lantern

will-of-the-wispwill-o'-the-wisp

it was'twas (archaic)

TEST1. I don't understand what you mean. _____________________________ 2. She'll come over tomorrow. _____________________________ 3. I could've gone to the football game._____________________________ 4. You shouldn't talk with your mouth full. _____________________________ 5. Haven't you seen the movie yet? _____________________________ 6. I'll be going on a plane. _____________________________ 7. Sorry, I can't answer the phone right now. _____________________________ 8. I won't be home until Thursday. _____________________________ 9. She's gone to the bank already. _____________________________ 10. They weren't in the kitchen._____________________________ Sources: http://www.enchantedlearning.com and http://www.superteacherworksheets.com