Inglês Informal: Como Usar As Contrações De Palavras Em Inglês

Inglês Informal: Como Usar As Contrações De Palavras Em Inglês

É muito comum, na língua inglesa informal, o uso de contrações de palavras – ou seja, a junção de duas palavras com o uso de apóstrofe. Na maioria dos casos, a primeira palavra se mantém e é na segunda que ocorre uma alteração. Existem alguns casos que podem confundir quem está aprendendo ou mesmo quem usa o inglês como segunda língua. Neste post a Professora Clarissa Rocha ensina alguns exemplos e dicas para usar bem as contrações em inglês.  

The most common contractions in English are used with the verb TO BE followed by verb or auxiliary verb.

Pay attention! “You’re” and “your” may sound alike, but remember that the first one is a contraction and the second one is a pronoun that indicates possession. The same thing happens with “they’re” and “their”. 

Now, if you are using a contraction with WILL, all you have to do is turn it into “’ll”, for example: I’ll; he’ll, we’ll, it’ll and so on.

While contracting pronouns and WOULD, you just have to make it with “’d”, as in: She’d, they’d, I’d, we’d etc. However, pay attention: the same contraction on a different meaning: “’d” is also used when using HAD, so ‘I had’ is also ‘I’d’, and she’d, we’d and so on. Since the use of HAD with a contraction is not used with the simple past, it is easy to perceive which meaning the contraction “’d” has due to the sentence construction or context.

Examples:

• I had a math test yesterday (there is no possibility of contraction here)
• I had already left when they arrived (the contraction here is allowed and very common - I'd already left when they arrived)

The contraction with the auxiliary verb HAVE or its form HAS is “’ve” or “’s”, according to the pronoun in use – attention to the word “auxiliary” here: when “have” is the main verb, it is not contracted, only as an auxiliary to other verbs. In that case, you can use it as in: I’ve (I have), she’s (she has), we’ve (we have), it’s (it has) etc. ATTENTION: the same contraction “’s” is also used with the simple present (he is = he’s). Therefore, the meaning of the contraction will be understood again due to the sentence or context of what’s being said.

Examples:

• I have a car and a motorcycle. (there is no possibility of contraction here because "have"is the main verb and not an auxiliary in this sentence )
• I have never been to Japan. (the contraction here is allowed and very common - I've never been to Japan)

You can also contract other words with HAVE, for example:

I would have gone if I could.

I would’ve gone if I could.

The same thing happens with other modal verbs such as: could, should, might, must and may – by simply adding the “’ve” instead of “have”.

This kind of contraction is more used in the spoken language.

Contractions with NOT

When using the negative form of verbs, it is very common to use the contraction of NOT, which adds “n’t” to the end of the word. The exception* is “will not”, which becomes “won’t”. Take a look.

In some cases, you can choose which contraction to use. If you want to emphasize a word, then contract the other. If there’s no emphasis, you can choose whichever sounds better in the sentence. Here are a few examples:

Now, let’s practice!

Write down the sentences applying contractions when possible.

1. I will not stop training for the competition.
2. He is not going to call you.
3. I do not believe in that story he told us.
4. I would have gone to the concert if you had bought the tickets.
5. It has been raining all afternoon, we will have to take a cab.
6. We had planned to go out, but he got sick.
7. They are getting married next Saturday.
8. We are not going to the wedding because we are busy on Saturday.

You can send us your answers for correction here contato@elearningforall.org.com

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