Contractions

We use contractions (I’m, we’re) in everyday speech and informal writing. Contractions, which are sometimes called ‘short forms’, commonly combine a pronoun or noun and a verb, or a verb and not, in a shorter form. Contractions are usually not appropriate in formal writing.

We make contractions with auxiliary verbs, and also with be and have when they are not auxiliary verbs. When we make a contraction, we commonly put an apostrophe in place of a missing letter.