Wikipedia:List of English contractions
- This list is part of the internal Wikipedia Manual of Style. For encyclopedic information see English auxiliaries and contractions.
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This is an explanatory supplement to the Wikipedia:Manual of Style guideline.
This page is intended to provide additional information about concepts in the page(s) it supplements. This page is not one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community.
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This is a list of various contractions used in the English language. Per Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Abbreviations § Contractions these should not be used in encyclopedic prose, only in direct quotations.
Some acronyms are formed by contraction (e.g. COINTELPRO); these are covered at Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Abbreviations § Acronyms. Some trademarks (e.g. Nabisco) and titles of published works (e.g. "Ain't That a Shame") consist of or contain contractions; these are covered at Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Trademarks and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Titles, respectively.
Please note that this page can be edited by anyone. It is illustrative, not exhaustively, and some of its entries are colloquial or obsolete.
Also, please note that many other proper contractions can be formed by combining various contractions listed here.
Please also note that some of these contractions might not be real english words, but they are frequently used by other people. Notice that some contractions don't include apostrophes, because of just combining two words together.
| contraction | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ain't | am not / is not / are not / has not / have not / did not (colloquial)[1] |
| aren't | are not[2] |
| can't (rarely, cain't) | cannot |
| could've | could have |
| couldn't | could not |
| daren't | dare not / dared not |
| daresn't | dare not |
| dasn't | dare not |
| didn't | did not |
| doesn't | does not |
| don't | do not / does not[3] |
| e'er | ever |
| everyone's | everyone is |
| finna | fixing to (colloquial) |
| gimme | give me |
| gonna | going to |
| gotta | got to |
| hadn't | had not |
| hasn't | has not |
| haven't | have not |
| he'd | he had / he would |
| he'll | he shall / he will |
| he's | he has / he is |
| he've | he have |
| how'd | how did / how would |
| how'll | how will |
| how're | how are |
| how's | how has / how is / how does |
| I'd | I had / I would |
| I'll | I shall / I will |
| I'm | I am |
| I'm'a | I am about to |
| I'm'o | I am going to |
| I've | I have |
| isn't | is not |
| it'd | it would |
| it'll | it shall / it will |
| it's | it has / it is |
| let's | let us |
| ma'am | madam |
| mayn't | may not |
| may've | may have |
| mightn't | might not |
| might've | might have |
| mustn't | must not |
| mustn't've | must not have |
| must've | must have |
| needn't | need not |
| ne'er | never |
| o'clock | of the clock |
| o'er | over |
| ol' | old |
| oughtn't | ought not |
| 's | is, has, does, or us |
| shan't | shall 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 has / somebody is |
| someone's | someone has / someone is |
| something's | something has / something is |
| that'll | that shall / that will |
| that're | that are |
| that's | that has / that is |
| that'd | that would / that had |
| there'd | there had / there would |
| there'll | there shall / there will |
| there're | there are |
| there's | there has / there is |
| these're | these are |
| they'd | they had / they would |
| they'll | they shall / they will |
| they're | they are / they were |
| they've | they have |
| this's | this has / this is |
| those're | those are |
| 'tis | it is |
| 'twas | it was |
| wasn't | was not |
| we'd | we had / we would |
| we'd've | we would have |
| we'll | we will |
| we're | we are |
| we've | we have |
| weren't | were not |
| what'd | what did |
| what'll | what shall / what will |
| what're | what are |
| what's | what has / what is / what does |
| what've | what have |
| when's | when has / when is |
| where'd | where did |
| where're | where are |
| where's | where has / where is / where does |
| where've | where have |
| which's | which has / which is |
| who'd | who would / who had / who did |
| who'd've | who would have |
| who'll | who shall / who will |
| who're | who are |
| who's | who has / who is / who does |
| who've | who have |
| why'd | why did |
| why're | why are |
| why's | why has / why is / why does |
| won't | will not |
| would've | would have |
| wouldn't | would not |
| y'all | you all (colloquial) |
| y'all'd've | you all would have (colloquial) |
| you'd | you had / you would |
| you'll | you shall / you will |
| you're | you are |
| you've | you have |
| noun's | noun is (possessive forms of many nouns are homographic to this contraction) |
| noun(s)'re | noun(s) are (forms of many nouns are homographic to this contraction) |
References and notes[edit]
- ^ Ain't is used colloquially by some speakers as a substitute for a number of contractions, but is considered incorrect by others.
- ^ Aren't is usually a contraction of "are not"; however, it can be used as a contraction of "am not" in questions (e.g. "Aren't I the greatest?"), though this is often considered colloquial.
- ^ Don't can be used to mean "does not"; however, this is considered colloquial to most speakers.
