Contractions

Contraction adalah singkatan enclitics (kata atau persingkatan kata yang tidak bertekanan). Berbeda dengan abbreviation yaitu bentuk singkatan atau kependekan dari sebuah kata atau banyak kata atau ungkapan yang menggantikan atau mewakili keseluruhannya. Bedakan antara contraction dan abbreviation berikut ini:

I am a teacher from United States of America

I'm a teacher from U.S.A.

I'm sebagai contraction dari I am, dan U.S.A. adalah abbreviation dari United States of America


Ciri dari contraction adalah menggunakan apostrophe. Lihat bentuk lengkap (full form) berikut ini:

It is, that is, what is, there is, here is, you are, they will, let us, cannot, are not, do not, does not, etc. Bentuk bentuk tersebut ditulis dalam keadaan formal dan kalau dibaca bentuk-bentuk tersebut biasanya dilafalkan seperti tertulis. Bentuk-bentuk lengkap itu tidak boleh disingkat dalam surat-menyurat resmi, bisnis, dan sebagainya. Contraction biasanya dipakai dalam bahasa lisan seperti pidato, dan dalam percakapan yang direkam atau ditulis atau karangan informal yang lain. Singkatan-singkatan tersebut ditulis dengan cara menambahkan tanda apostrophe seperti contoh:

aren't	are not
can't	cannot
couldn't	could not
didn't	did not
doesn't	does not
don't	do not
hadn't	had not
hasn't	has not
haven't	have not
he'd	he had; he would
he'll	he will; he shall
he's	he is; he has
I'd	I had; I would
I'll	I will; I shall
I'm	I am
I've	I have
isn't	is not
it's	it is; it has
let's	let us
mightn't	might not
mustn't	must not
shan't	shall not
she'd	she had; she would
she'll	she will; she shall
she's	she is; she has
shouldn't	should not
that's	that is; that has
there's	there is; there has
they'd	they had; they would
they'll	they will; they shall
they're	they are
they've	they have
we'd	we had; we would
we're	we are
we've	we have
weren't	were not
what'll	what will; what shall
what're	what are
what's	what is; what has; what does
what've	what have
where's	where is; where has
who'd	who had; who would
who'll	who will; who shall
who's	who is; who has
who've	who have
won't	will not
wouldn't	would not
you'd	you had; you would
you'll	you will; you shall
you're	you are
you've	you have

Bentuk lengkap hanya terdapat dalam bahasa atau gaya bahasa formal.