Wikipedia:List of English contractions
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- This list is part of the internal Wikipedia Manual of Style. For encyclopedic information see English auxiliaries and contractions.
 | This is an explanatory essay about 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. |
This is a list of contractions used in the Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Abbreviations; these are to be avoided anywhere other than in direct quotations in encyclopedic prose.
Some acronyms are formed by contraction; these are covered at Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Abbreviations. 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’s illustrative, not exhaustive, 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.
| Contraction | Full Form |
|---|---|
| a’ight (informal) | alright |
| ain’t (informal) | am not / is not / are not / has not / have not / did not (colloquial)[1] |
| amn’t | am not[2] |
| ’n’ / ‘n’ (informal) | and |
| arencha (informal) | aren’t you / are not you (colloquial) |
| aren’t | are not[3] |
| ’bout (informal) | about |
| can’t | cannot |
| cap’n (informal) | captain |
| ’cause (informal) | because |
| ’cept (informal) | except |
| could’ve | could have |
| couldn’t | could not |
| couldn’t’ve | could not have |
| cuppa | cup of |
| 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[4] |
| dunno (informal) | don’t know/do not know |
| d’ye (informal) | do you / did you |
| d’ya (informal) | do you / did you |
| e’en (informal) | even |
| e’er (informal) | ever |
| ’em (informal) | them |
| everybody’s | everybody is |
| everyone’s | everyone is |
| finna (informal) | fixing to |
| fo’c’sle (informal) | forecastle |
| ’gainst (informal) | against |
| g’day (informal) | good day |
| gimme (informal) | give me |
| giv’n (informal) | given |
| gi’z (informal) | give us (colloquial, meaning: give me) |
| gonna (informal) | going to |
| gon’t (informal) | go not (colloquial) |
| gotta (informal) | got to |
| hadn’t | had not |
| had’ve | had have |
| hasn’t | has not |
| haven’t | have not |
| he’d | he had / he would |
| he'll | he shall / he will |
| helluva (informal) | hell of a |
| he’s | he has / he is |
| here’s | here is |
| how’d (informal) | how did / how would |
| howdy (informal) | how do you do / how do you fare |
| how’ll | how will |
| how’re | how are |
| how’s | how has / how is / how does |
| I’d | I had / I would |
| I’d’ve | I would have |
| I’d’nt | I would not |
| I’d’nt’ve | I would not have |
| If’n (informal) | If and when |
| I’ll | I shall / I will |
| I’m | I am |
| Imma (informal) | I am about to / I am going to |
| I’m’o (informal) | I am going to |
| innit (informal) | isn’t it / ain’t it |
| Ion (informal) | I don’t / I do not |
| I’ve | I have |
| isn’t | is not |
| it’d | it would |
| it’ll | it shall / it will |
| it’s | it has / it is |
| Idunno (informal) | I don’t know |
| kinda (informal) | kind of |
| let’s | let us |
| loven’t (informal) | love not (colloquial) |
| ma’am (formal) | madam |
| mayn’t | may not |
| may’ve | may have |
| methinks (informal) | I think |
| mightn’t | might not |
| might’ve | might have |
| mustn’t | must not |
| mustn’t’ve | must not have |
| must’ve | must have |
| ’neath (informal) | beneath |
| needn’t | need not |
| nal (informal) | and all |
| ne’er (informal) | never |
| o’clock | of the clock |
| o’er | over |
| ol’ | old |
| ought’ve | ought have |
| oughtn’t | ought not |
| oughtn’t’ve | ought not have |
| ’round | around |
| ’s | is, has, does, us / possessive |
| shalln’t | shall not (archaic) |
| shan’ | 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 |
| shouldn’t’ve (informal) | should not have |
| somebody’s | somebody has / somebody is |
| someone’s | someone has / someone is |
| something’s | something has / something is |
| so’re (informal) | so are (colloquial) |
| so’s (informal) | so is / so has |
| so’ve (informal) | so have |
| that’ll | that shall / that will |
| that’re (informal) | 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 |
| these’ve | these have |
| 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 (informal) | those are |
| those’ve (informal) | those have |
| ’thout (informal) | without |
| ’til (informal) | until |
| ’tis (informal) | it is |
| to’ve (informal) | to have |
| ’twas (informal) | it was |
| ’tween (informal) | between |
| ’twere (informal) | it were |
| w’all | we all (Irish/Scottish English) |
| w’at | we at |
| wanna | want to |
| wasn’t | was not |
| we’d | we had / we would / we did |
| we’d’ve | we would have |
| we’ll | we shall / we will |
| we’re | we are |
| we’ve | we have |
| weren’t | were not |
| whatcha | what are you (whatcha doing?)
what about you (as in asking how someone is today, used as a greeting) |
| what’d | what did |
| what’ll | what shall / what will |
| what’re | what are / what were |
| what’s | what has / what is / what does |
| what’ve | what have |
| when’s | when has / when is |
| where’d | where did |
| where’ll | where shall / where will |
| where’re | where are |
| where’s | where has / where is / where does |
| where’ve | where have |
| which’d | which had / which would |
| which’ll | which shall / which will |
| which’re | which are |
| which’s | which has / which is |
| which’ve | which have |
| 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 |
| willn’t | will not (archaic) |
| won’t | will not |
| wonnot | will not (archaic) |
| would’ve | would have |
| wouldn’t | would not |
| wouldn’t’ve | would not have |
| y’ain’t | you are not / you have not / you did not (colloquial) |
| y’all | you all (colloquial/Southern American English) |
| y’all’d’ve | you all would have (colloquial/Southern American English) |
| y’all’d’n’t’ve | you all would not have (colloquial/Southern American English) |
| y’all’re | you all are (colloquial/Southern American English) |
| y’all’ren’t | you all are not (colloquial/Southern American English) |
| y’at (informal) | you at |
| yes’m | yes ma’am / yes madam |
| y’know | you know |
| yessir | yes sir |
| you’d | you had / you would |
| you’ll | you shall / you will |
| you’re | you are |
| you’ve | you have |
| when’d | when did |
| willn’t | will not |
- ^ Ain’t is used colloquially by some speakers as a substitute for a number of contractions, but is considered incorrect by others.
- ^ Amn’t is primarily used in Scottish and Irish English.
- ^ 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.