Page 50 - Perfect English Grammar: The Indispensable Guide to Excellent Writing and Speaking

Contractions are words made by combining other words and replacing some of
the letters with an apostrophe (’). Most contractions are idiomatic, meaning their

forms are fixed even if they don’t seem to make sense to the modern English
user. For example: will not = won’t Remember when we said English has a lot

of baggage from its long history? Won’t is actually a contraction of woll not, a
much older form dating to at least as early as the mid-1500s.

Some teachers and reference works insist you should avoid contractions

because they are deemed too informal or slangy. However, that is an
insupportable view. Even the most respected and highly educated writers,
thinkers, and leaders of our era regularly use contractions in a wide variety of

writing and speaking, both formal and informal. In fact, if you try to avoid

contractions, your writing and speech will come out sounding stilted and
unnatural.

■ That said, it is also easy to overuse contractions in writing. A sentence like
He didn’t say he wouldn’t’ve been ready if it weren’t for the snow.

is a monstrosity that will make your readers’ eyes pop out of their heads.

4.5.1 IT’S AND IT’D

It’s and It’d are special contractions because each can be forms of different sets

of words.

■ ■ it’s = it has, it is it’d = it had, it would

4.5.2 OLD-FASHIONED CONTRACTIONS

The following contractions are considered old-fashioned today and should be

avoided in everyday writing and speech. ’Tis, in particular, is frequently misused
and overused, especially by newspaper headline-writers at Christmastime.

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ’tis = it is ’twas = it was ’twere = it were ’twill = it will ’twould = it would