Short Forms: Contracted Forms with Good and Useful Examples

We often use short forms (Contracted forms) in spoken English as well as informal written English. So, what are short forms? Why do we use short forms in English? What are contracted words?

Contracted words are words which are shortened by omitting a letter or letters from them. The omitted letters are represented by an apostrophe.

When we write short forms, we use an apostrophe (‘) for the missing letter or letters.

For example:

I would in contracted form (short form) is I’d. ( I would = I’d)

The contracted form of will not is won’t (will not = won’t)

The contracted form of have not is haven’t (have not = haven’t)

The contracted form of you are is you’re (you are = you’re)

The contracted form of I am is I’m (I am = I’m)

The contracted form of does not is doesn’t ( does not = doesn’t)

The contracted form of they are is they’re (they are = they’re)

The contracted form of are not is aren’t (are not = aren’t )

The contracted form of it would is it’d (it would = it’d)

Short Forms in English / Contracted Forms

Here are some examples of contracted forms (example short form):

I am from Brazil.

→ I’m from Brazil.

He is an engineer.

→ He’s an engineer.

We are interested in learning English.

→ We’re interested in learning English.

I have got some nice friends.

→ I’ve got some nice friends.

She has got a new computer.

→ She’s got a new computer.

You had better see a doctor.

→ You’d better see a doctor.

I will help you with that exercise.

→ I’ll help you with that exercise.

I would like to join the team.

→ I’d like to join the team.

‘s can be has or is. When ‘s is followed by the past participle, it means has.

He‘s done his homework (= He has done his homework)
She‘s been cleaning up the rooms for hours. (= She has been cleaning up the rooms for hours.)

Contracted Forms of Auxiliary Verbs with Not

short forms — **Short Forms in English**

Full forms	Short forms (contracted forms)	Negative short forms in sentences
is not	isn’t	This isn’t my book. It’s my Tom’s.
are not	aren’t	Tim and Jack aren’t here yet.
was not	wasn’t	There wasn’t any problem with the new system.
were not	weren’t	They weren’t at the party last night.
do not	don’t	We don’t have any ideas about what happened.
does not	doesn’t	She doesn’t speak Spanish fluently.
did not	didn’t	My kids didn’t sleep well last night.
have not	haven’t	I haven’t finished writing the second report yet.
has not	hasn’t	My mom hasn’t come yet. I miss her.
had not	hadn’t	I hadn’t finished eating when you called me.
cannot	can’t	I can’t bear frogs.
could not	couldn’t	I couldn’t have access to the Internet as I didn’t have the WI-FI password.
would not	wouldn’t	If you’d studied harder, you wouldn’t have failed the exam.
will not	won’t	If we don’t hurry up, we won’t arrive on time.
should not	shouldn’t	You shouldn’t eat much fatty food.
must not	mustn’t	Students mustn’t use mobile phones during the test.

Note that we can say:
He isn’t/she isn’t/it isn’t or he’s not/she’s not/it’s not.
You aren’t/we aren’t/they arentaren’t or you’re not/we’re not/they’re not.

We also contract negatives:

Do not → don’t
Does not → doesn’t
Did not → didn’t
Is not → isn’t
Are not → aren’t
Was not → wasn’t
Were not → weren’t
Will not → won’t
Shall not → shan’t
Have not → haven’t
Has not → hasn’t
Had not → hadn’t
Let us → let’s
Let us not → let’s not

Here are some more examples of short forms in sentences:

Helen’s watching an action movie.
Dad’s washing the car.
They aren’t coming to the party.
We don’t like playing golf.

David wasn’t here when the accident happened.
Let’s improve our English. Let’s not waste our time on social networking websites.
Katherine hasn’t submitted her project yet.
We didn’t meet at school. We just had an online meeting.