List of Contraction | 100+ Contraction Words to Use in Writing And Speaking

You’ve probably noticed that the English speakers you hear on TV or in the movies don’t really speak like you or your other non-English speaking friends. You think this is because of  vocabulary, true, but it also has to do with the contraction of words.

Contractions are widely used in everyday language, especially in spoken English, but they are typically avoided in formal or academic writing. Understanding contractions is essential for effective communication and to comprehend natural language in various contexts.

Contraction Words

What is a Contraction?

A contraction, in grammar, refers to the shortening of two words by combining them into one word. Contraction occurs by dropping one or more letters and replacing them with an apostrophe (‘), representing the omitted letters. This process is commonly used in informal speech and writing to make sentences more concise and fluent.

For example:

Look at more examples!

• “I do not think it is a good idea…”
• “You should not jump in the pool if you cannot swim!”

As an English speaker, we would rather say:

• “I don’t think it’s a good idea…”
• “You shouldn’t jump in the pool if you can’t swim!”

Have you noticed the difference (it can be heard mostly orally -Other languages  also have contractions, but they are usually obligatory like the contractions between prepositions and articles in many Romance languages. Almost all contractions in English are optional, except in the word “o’clock.”

In English, it’s perfectly okay to use “it is” or “it’s” the same way, and changing one instead of the other isn’t going to change much. The only thing that might change is the register, or the perceived tone of your speech or writing. As a general rule, you should try not to use contractions in your writing, especially in a formal context. But you should try to use the most common contractions in your oral speech.

How to Form Contractions? 

As you may have noticed in these examples, the contraction in English is usually formed by removing one or two letters from a word, replaced by an apostrophe. And if you can’t remember where the apostrophe is in your writing, think about the original two words and the letters that were removed. This is where you should place your apostrophe!

The contraction in English is very easy to train and use, it’s just a matter of getting used to! Now challenge yourself to use some of these contractions in your conversations with natives and informal email.

List of Contractions Words in English

List of Common Contractions

aren’t	are not
can’t	cannot
couldn’t	could not
could’ve	could have
didn’t	did not
doesn’t	does not
don’t	do not
e’er	ever
hadn’t	had not
hasn’t	has not
haven’t	have not
he’d	he had; he would
he’ll	he will; he shall
he’s	he is; he has
I’d	I had; I would
I’ll	I will; I shall
I’m	I am
I’ve	I have
isn’t	is not
it’d	it would
it’ll	it shall; it will
it’s	it is; it has
let’s	let us
ma’am	madam
mightn’t	might not
might’ve	might have
mustn’t	must not
must’ve	must have
‘n’	and
needn’t	need not
ne’er	never
o’er	over
ol’	old
oughtn’t	ought not
shan’t	shall not
she’d	she had; she would
she’ll	she will; she shall
she’s	she is; she has
shouldn’t	should not
should’ve	should have
that’d	that would
that’s	that is; that has
there’d	there had; there would
there’ll	there shall; there will
there’s	there has; there is
they’d	they had; they would
they’ll	they will; they shall
they’re	they are
they’ve	they have
’twas	it was
wasn’t	was not
we’d	we had; we would
we’ll	we will
we’re	we are
we’ve	we have
weren’t	were not
what’ll	what will; what shall
what’re	what are
what’s	what is; what has; what does
what’ve	what have
where’d	where did
where’s	where is; where has
who’d	who had; who would
who’ll	who will; who shall
who’s	who is; who has
who’ve	who have
why’d	why did
won’t	will not
wouldn’t	would not
would’ve	would have
you’d	you had; you would
you’ll	you will; you shall
you’re	you are
you’ve	you have

List of Contractions of Auxiliaries

Let’s look at this list of  contractions in grammar with the verb to be. Here’s the long version, followed by the contracted version. The examples come immediately after.

• He’s cooking outside!
• It’s very hot outside!
• They’re coming back tomorrow. 

The contractions of auxiliary verbs are:

List of Contractions of have, to have

We do the contraction of have when there is another verb just after.

• I have > I’ve.
• You have > you’ve.
• He has > he’s.
• She has > she’s.
• It has > it’s. He / she has (for objects)
• We have > we’ve.
• They have > they’ve.

Examples:

• She has brown eyes> She’s brown eyes.
• I am sure I have seen  it before> I’m sure I’ve seen it before

List of Negative Contractions

Negative contractions in grammar is perhaps the most complicated, especially when it comes to will. Not becomes n’t and is placed immediately after the verb, without spaces:

Let’s look at some examples:

• He will not come. > He won’t be coming. 
• You must not do that. > You mustn’t do that. 
• I do not know. > I don’t know.
• I was not there. > I wasn’t there..
• Did You not know?! > Didn’t you know?! 

List of contractions of “will”

This contraction is among the easiest, just add ‘ll right after the person, the subject. Let’s not forget that “will” is used to talk about the future in English. Here is the list of contractions of will with the verb go, go (the logic is the same for all other verbs):

• I will go => I’ll go.
• You will go => you’ll go.
• He will go => he’ll go . He will go
• She will go => she’ll go. She will go
• It will go => it’ll go. It will be fine
• We will go => we’ll go. We will go
• They will go => they’ll go. They will go

Example:

• You will have do this. > You’ll have to do this. 

List of conditional contractions, would be

The contraction of would is also quite simple, just add ‘d. Let’s look at this example with like but the same goes for all the other verbs:

• I would like => I’d like.
• You would like => you’d like.
• He would like => he’d like.
• She would like => she’d like.
• It would like => it’d like. (for objects)
• We would like => we’d like.
• They would like => they’d like.

For example:

• He’d rather watch a film. He would rather watch a movie = I would (I’d) rather , you’d rather etc, it’s an expression, a locution, which means to prefer.
• If I were rich, I’d buy a big house in the USA = If I were rich I would buy a big house in the USA.

Look at these contraction words!

Some contractions are used more than once in English, but how do you tell the difference? Here are some ideas:

• It’s been raining since I left home. It’s been raining since I left the house. The verb that directly follows the ‘s is the past participle (been of the verb to be ) so it is the contraction of has .
• What color is your car? It’s blue. What color is your car? She is blue. An adjective follows it’s therefore it is it is .
• He’s got blue eyes. He has blue eyes. Followed by got, he’s is the contraction of he has .
• It’s raining. It is raining. The 2nd verb ends in ing so ‘s is the contraction of is .

List of Contractions {A to Z}

• aren’t = are not
• can’t = cannot
• couldn’t = could not
• doesn’t = does not 
• don’t = do not
• didn’t = did not 
• haven’t = have not 
• hadn’t = had not 
• hasn’t = has not 
• let’s = let us
• might’ve = might have 
• mustn’t = must not 
• mightn’t = might not 
• must’ve = must have 
• needn’t = need not 
• she’d = she had / she would 
• she’ll = she shall, she will 
• she’s = she has, she is 
• should’ve = should have 
• shouldn’t = should not 
• somebody’s = somebody is 
• someone’d = someone had, someone would 
• someone’ll = someone shall, someone will 
• someone’s = someone has, someone is 
• something’d = something had
• something’ll = something shall, something will 
• something’s = something has, something is 
• that’ll = that will 
• that’s = that has, that is 
• that’d = that would, that had 
• there’d = there had, there would 
• there’d’ve = there would have 
• there’re = there are 
• there’s = there has / there is 
• they’d = they would 
• they’d’ve = they would have 
• they’ll = they shall, they will 
• they’re = they are 
• they’ve = they have 
• wasn’t = was not 
• we’d = we had 
• we’ll = we will 
• we’re = we are 
• we’ve = we have 
• weren’t = were not 
• what’ll = what will 
• what’re = what are 
• what’s = what has / what is 
• what’ve = what have 
• when’s = when is 
• where’d = where did 
• where’s = where has, where is
• where’ve = where have 
• who’d = who would
• who’d’ve = who would have 
• who’ll = who shall, who will 
• who’re = who are 
• who’s = who has, who is
• who’ve = who have 
• why’d = why did 
• why’re = why are 
• why’s = why has, why is
• won’t = will not 
• won’t’ve = will not have 
• would’ve = would have 
• wouldn’t = would not 
• wouldn’t’ve = would not have 
• you’d’ve = you would have 
• you’ll = you shall, you will

List of Contractions with “to” (Informal)

• want to = wanna
• They wanna buy a house
• have to = hafta
• We hafta ask for help.
• has to = hasta
• He hasta hire an assistant.
• had to = hadta
• Julia hadta cook dinner for her kids.
• used to = useta
• Carrie useta smoke, but she quit.
• got to = gotta
• You’ve gotta keep trying.