Unit 5 - Contractions

Grammar

1. Contractions

Many verbs have short forms which are used particularly in spoken English. For example: "I am happy today" = "I'm happy today". The short forms of the verb "to be" are as follows:

Singular I am = I'm You are = You're He is = He's She is = She's It is = It's

Plural We are = We're You are= You're They are = They're

Be careful not to confuse it's with its. It's means "it is", but its is a possessive form we'll study later.

2. Negative Contractions - Simple Present Verb "to be"

There are two main short forms for the negative of the verb "to be": "You are" becomes "You're not" or "you aren't". For example:

- She is not happy = She isn't happy = She's not happy.
- We are not singers = We aren't singers = We're not singers

The short forms for the negative verb "to be" are as follows:

Singular I am not = I'm not = I amn't* You are not = You're not = You aren't He is not = He's not = He isn't She is not = She's not = She isn't It is not = It's not = It isn't

Plural We are = We're not = We aren't You are= You're not = You aren't They are = They're not = They aren't

* "I am" Negative Contraction

You can say "I am not", and you can say "I'm not", but you can't say "I amn't".

3. Negative Contractions - Simple Present

Simple Present negatives contract in two ways: "do not" becomes "don't" and "does not" becomes "doesn't". For example:

- Statement: I do not like pizza = I don't like pizza.
- Questions: He does not drive a car = He doesn't drive a car.

And just in case you need it, here's a table of Simple Present contractions.

Singular I do not = I don't You do not = You don't He does not = He doesn't She does not = She doesn't It does not = It doesn't

Plural We do not = We don't You do not = You don't They do not = They don't

Now give some exercises a try!