| Full Form | Contraction | Example Sentence | |-----------|-------------|------------------| | I am | I'm | I'm going to the store. | | you are | you're | You're my best friend. (not your ) | | he is / he has | he's | He's here. / He's finished. | | she is / she has | she's | She's a doctor. / She's called. | | it is / it has | it's | It's raining. / It's been long. | | we are | we're | We're ready. | | they are | they're | They're leaving. (not their or there ) | | I have | I've | I've seen that movie. | | you have | you've | You've grown. | | we have | we've | We've arrived. | | they have | they've | They've forgotten. | | I had / I would | I'd | I'd seen it. / I'd love to. | | you had / you would | you'd | You'd better go. / You'd like it. | | he had / he would | he'd | He'd left. / He'd help. | | we had / we would | we'd | We'd finished. / We'd come. | | they had / they would | they'd | They'd known. / They'd agree. | | I will | I'll | I'll call you. | | you will | you'll | You'll be late. | | he/she/it will | he'll / she'll / it'll | It'll be fine. | | we will | we'll | We'll see. | | they will | they'll | They'll arrive soon. | | would not | wouldn't | He wouldn't say. | These combine a verb + not . Note how do not becomes don't (the o is dropped).
| Full Form | Contraction | Example | |-----------|-------------|---------| | is not | isn't | It isn't ready. | | are not | aren't | You aren't listening. | | was not | wasn't | She wasn't there. | | were not | weren't | We weren't happy. | | do not | don't | I don't know. | | does not | doesn't | He doesn't care. | | did not | didn't | They didn't come. | | have not | haven't | I haven't seen it. | | has not | hasn't | She hasn't called. | | had not | hadn't | We hadn't thought. | | will not | won't | I won't tell. (irregular) | | would not | wouldn't | She wouldn't listen. | | cannot | can't | You can't go. (one word) | | could not | couldn't | He couldn't find it. | | should not | shouldn't | You shouldn't do that. | | might not | mightn't | It mightn't matter. (rare) | | must not | mustn't | You mustn't forget. | won't (will not), can't (cannot — note the apostrophe goes after n ). 3. Question Word Contractions (Informal) These are very common in speech but rarely written in formal English. most common contractions in english
| Full Form | Contraction | Notes | |-----------|-------------|-------| | give me | gimme | Gimme a break. | | going to | gonna | I'm gonna leave. | | want to | wanna | I wanna go. | | got to | gotta | I've gotta run. | | kind of | kinda | It's kinda weird. | | out of | outta | Get outta here. | | don't know | dunno | I dunno. | | let me | lemme | Lemme think. | | because | 'cause | 'Cause I said so. | Avoid these in any formal writing. Use only for dialogue or casual text. Many contractions sound like other words. These are frequent spelling errors. | Full Form | Contraction | Example Sentence