Contractions

Learning Objectives

Identify contractions in words in order to improve pronunciation

Contractions– a shortened version of words created by omission of letters and sounds; in contractions, apostrophes are punctuation marks that replace omitted letter(s)

Words

Contraction

pronunciation 

(number of syllables)

Rhymes with

I am I’m |ime| (1) dime
you are you’re |yor| (1) more/ four
he is he’s |heez| (1) fees/ bees
she is she’s |sheez| (1) seas
it is it’s |its| (1) bits/ fits
we are we’re |wier| (1) pier/ beer
they are they’re |thear| (1) pair/ fair
are not aren’t |arnt| (1)
is not isn’t |izunt| (2)
was not wasn’t |wozunt| (2)
were not weren’t |wurnt| (1) burnt/ learnt
I have I’ve |ive| (1) dive/ five
you have you’ve |yoov| (1) move/ prove
he has he’s |heez| (1) fees/ bees
she has she’s |sheez| (1) seas/ he’s
it has it’s |its| (1) bits/ fits
we have we’ve |weev| (1) peeve/ believe
they have they’ve |theiv| (1) dave/ brave
I had I’d |ide| (1) cried/ died
you had you’d |yood| (1) food/ renewed
he had he’d |heed| (1) feed/ need
she had she’d |sheed| (1) seed/
it had it’d |itud| (2)
we had we’d |weed| (1) he’d/ she’d
they had they’d |theid| (1) spade/ paid
I will I’ll |ail| (1) while/ pile
you will you’ll |yuul| (1) tool
he will he’ll |heel| (1) feel/ peel
she will she’ll |sheel| (1) he’ll/ feel
it will it’ll |itul| (2)
we will we’ll |weel| (1) he’ll/ she’ll
they will they’ll |theil| (1) dale/ male
will not won’t |woant| (1) don’t
I would I’d |ide| (1) cried/ died
you would you’d |yood| (1) food/ renewed
he would he’d |heed| (1) feed/ need
she would she’d |sheed| (1) seed/ he’d
it would it’d |itud| (2)
we would we’d |weed| (1) he’d/ she’d
they would they’d |theid| (1) spade/ paid

 

tips for teaching

Relaxed pronunciation (informal contractions) is commonly used in English conversations.

Examples:

coulda (could have)

dunno (don’t know)

gimme (give me) gonna (going to)

gotta (got to)

kinda (kind of)

oughta (ought to)

shoulda (should have)

sorta (sort of)

wanna (want to) woulda (would have)