Contractions are used in informal situations like everyday speech or informal writing (notes, messages etc.). We often refer to contractions as the short form of a subject and verb or the negative form or said subject and verb. Here is a quick list of contractions for you to review:
The Verb to be: present
| SUBJECT | AFFIRMATIVE | NEGATIVE |
| I | ´M | ´M NOT |
| YOU | ´RE | AREN´T |
| HE/SHE/IT | ´S | ISN´T |
| THEY | ´RE | AREN´T |
| WE | ´RE | AREN´T |
| YOU | ´RE | AREN´T |
The verb to be: past
| SUBJECT | AFFIRMATIVE | NEGATIVE |
| I | WAS | WASN´T |
| YOU | WERE | WEREN´T |
| HE/SHE/IT | WAS | WASN´T |
| THEY | WERE | WEREN´T |
| WE | WERE | WEREN´T |
| YOU | WERE | WEREN´T |
remember that the contraction of not is N´T
Other useful contractions
Note that some of the contractions do not exist in the in the affirmative
| VERB | AFFIRMATIVE | NEGATIVE |
| WILL | `LL | WON´T |
| WOULD | `D | WOULDN´T |
| HAD | `D | HADN´T |
| HAVE | ´VE | HAVEN´T |
| MUST | – | MUSTN´T |
| SHOULD | – | SHOULDN´T |
| SHALL | – | SHAN´T |
| CAN | – | CAN´T |
Do not forget that the third person of have is has and the contraction is also different:
| HAS | – | HASN´T |
To know the difference between similar contractions like I had (I´d) and I would (I´d) you need to focus on what goes after the contraction. For example;
I would like to go to the cinema = I´d like to go to the cinema
I had seen the film before = I´d seen the film before
Had (´d) is followed by a past participle like got, been, done etc.
