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 |
pronunciationÂ(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)
