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Contraction and Omission of Words

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ə Λ ā ē ī ō ū ű œ θ δ š ž č ĵ ŋ
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Note: an apostrophe ' is placed before the accented vowel.

Pronouns and verbs


 I he she it we you they
be I am: I'm
/'aim/		 he is: he's
/h'īz/		 she is: she's
/š'īz/		 it is: it's
/'its/		 we are: we're
/w'īr/		 you are: you're
/j'ūr/ > /j'or/		 they are: they're
/δ'ēr/
have I have: I've
/'aiv/		 he has: he's
/h'īz/		 she has: she's
/š'īz/		 it has: it's
/'its/		 we have: we've
/w'īv/		 you have: you've
/j'ūv/		 they have: they've
/δ'ēv/
will I will: I'll
/'ail/		 he will: he'll
/h'īl/		 she will: she'll
/š'īl/		 it will: it'll
/'itəl/		 we will: we'll
/w'īl/		 you will: you'll
/j'ūl/		 they will: they'll
/δ'ēl/
shall I shall: I'll
/'ail/		 he shall: he'll
/h'īl/		 she shall: she'll
/š'īl/		 it shall: it'll
/'itəl/		 we shall: we'll
/w'īl/		 you shall: you'll
/j'ūl/		 they shall: they'll
/δ'ēl/

Verbs and not

Several of the vector verbs contract with not.


Simple present non-3S Simple present 3S Simple past
do do not: don't
/d'ōnt/		 does not: doesn't /d'Λzənt/
(colloquial don't) /d'ōnt/		 did not: didn't
/d'idənt/
have have not: haven't /h'avənt/
(colloquial ain't) /'ēnt/ or /'int/		 has not: hasn't /h'azənt/
(colloquial ain't) /'ēnt/ or /'int/		 had not: hadn't
/h'adənt/
can can not: can't
/k'ānt/ or /k'ant/		 can not: can't
/k'ānt/ or /k'ant/		 could not1: couldn't
/k'udənt/
shall shall not: shan't
/š'ānt/ or /š'ant/		 shall not: shan't
/š'ānt/ or /š'ant/		 should not1: shouldn't
/š'udənt/
will will not: won't
/w'ōnt/		 will not: won't
/'ōnt/		 would not1: wouldn't
/w'udənt/
may may not: no contraction may not: no contraction might not1: mightn't
/m'aitənt/
must must not: mustn't2
/m'Λsənt/		 must not: mustn't2
/m'Λsənt/		 no past (see defective verbs), instead say wasn't/weren't allowed to
need need not: needn't
/n'īdənt/		 need not: needn't
/n'īdənt/		 not used as vector in past (instead say did not need: didn't need)
1 The verbs could, should, would and might are the past tenses of the verbs, can, shall, will and may but also have other functions, such as expressing subjunctive meanings.
2 Note that mustn't is pronounced like mussn't, with no /t/ in the middle.

Negative questions in the uncontracted form have word order vector-Subject-not. We would not use the word order vector-not-subject in the uncontracted form. But in the contracted form, we use the word order (vector+not)-subject:

Correct uncontracted form Wrong uncontracted form Contracted form
Are you not ready? **Are not you ready? Aren't you ready?
Do you not care? **Do not you care? Don't you care?

Omission of words

It is common in colloquial English to drop (omit) the verbs be, do and have. If the Subject is a personal pronoun (I, he, she, it, we, you, it) may also be dropped. If the Subject pronoun is dropped, the verb is usually dropped as well unless contracted with not.

Full form Verb dropped Verb and pronoun dropped Pronoun dropped, verb contracted with not Not used: pronoun dropped but not uncontracted verb
Is it not there? It not there? Not there? Isn't there? **Is not there?
You have not done it. You not done it. Not done it. Haven't done it. **Have not done it.
Do you not see him? You not see him? Not see him? Don't see him? **Do not see him?


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