Contractions – How do you shorten words in English Speaking

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When speaking to friends, workmates sometimes it’s important to note that English can be formal or informal. There is a place and time to use appropriate words and sentences. In this post we go through a few variations that are used to shorten a word. At ChillX.com the course Foundation – Spoken English we take you through a practical way to speak English and make English a habit rather than than some rocket science formula based grammar learning. The course is held in Pune.

Here are different ways to shorten words

I am – I’m
I had / I would – I’d e.g. I’d better leave now
I have – I’ve
You are – You’re
You will – You’ll – e.g. You’ll be sorry about this later
You had / would – You’d e.g. You’d better be early
You have – You’ve

He is – he’s
He will – he’ll
He had / would – he’d left for the day
She is – she’s
She will – she’ll
She had / would – She’d been working all day before the boss realised this.

It is – it’s
It will – It’ll
It would / had – It’d e.g. It’s be a long time before the pizza arrives

We are – we’re
We will – We’ll
We had / would – We’d – We’d better hurry if we don’t want to miss the start of the movie
We have – We’ve – Where were you? We’ve been waiting for ages

They are – they’re
They will – they’ll
They had / would – They’d
They have – They’ve – e.g. they’ve made more money than us due to hard work.

Now since you have learnt ways to shorten words, rewrite these sentences using contractions

Answers

Hi I’m Ravi. I work for Infosys (I am)
This is Sudha sharma. She’s a project director. (She is)
They’re students from Germany (They Are)
Let’s get out of here. We’re being a pain. (We are)
It’s late. (It is)
Let us hurry or else we’ll be in trouble (We will)
Can you please get me that handbag. I’ve been wanting it for a while now. (I have)
It’s important that you’re early for the meeting tomorrow (You are)
Ashwariya Rai is a famous actor. She’s known for her beauty (She is)
Katrina and Freida are know for their fame through acting. They’re now super stars (They are)
They’d have given that beggar some money, but she was lying. (They would)
Come on hurry up, we’re hungry (We are)
It’s a frog. (It is)
Come on hurry, we’ll miss the bus. (We will)
If you were here 5 min earlier you’d have met her. (You would)