Wikipedia:List of English contractions
- This list is part of the internal Wikipedia Manual of Style. For encyclopedic information see English auxiliaries and contractions.
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This is a list of contractions used in the Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Abbreviations; these are to be avoided anywhere other than in direct quotations in encyclopedic prose.
Some acronyms are formed by contraction; these are covered at Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Abbreviations. Some trademarks (e.g. Nabisco) and titles of published works (e.g. “Ain't That a Shame”) consist of or contain contractions; these are covered at Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Trademarks and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Titles, respectively.
| Contraction | Full Form |
|---|---|
| a’ight (informal) | alright |
| ain’t (informal) | am not / is not / are not / has not / have not / did not (colloquial)[1] |
| amn’t | am not[2] |
| ’n’ / ‘n’ (informal) | and |
| arencha (informal) | are not you / aren't you (colloquial) |
| aren’t | are not[3] |
| ’bout (informal) | about |
| can’t | cannot |
| cap’n (informal) | captain |
| ’cause (informal) | because |
| cuz (informal) | because |
| ’cept (informal) | except |
| c’mon | come on |
| could’ve | could have |
| couldn’t | could not |
| couldn’t’ve | could not have |
| cuppa | cup of |
| daren’t | dare not / dared not |
| daresn’t | dare not |
| dasn’t | dare not |
| didn’t | did not |
| doesn't | does not |
| don’t | do not / does not[4] |
| dunno (informal) | do not know / don't know |
| d’ye (informal) | do you / did you |
| d’ya (informal) | do you / did you |
| e’en (poetic) | even |
| e’er (poetic) | ever |
| ’em (informal) | them |
| everybody’s | everybody has / everybody is |
| everyone’s | everyone has / everyone is |
| everything's | everything has / everything is |
| finna (informal) | fixing to |
| fo’c’sle (informal) | forecastle |
| ’gainst (informal) | against |
| g’day (informal) | good day |
| gimme (informal) | give me |
| giv’n (informal) | given |
| gi’z (informal) | give us (colloquial, meaning: give me) |
| gonna (informal) | going to |
| gon’t (informal) | go not (colloquial) |
| gotta (informal) | got to |
| hadn’t | had not |
| had’ve | had have |
| hasn’t | has not |
| haven’t | have not |
| he’d | he had / he would |
| he'd'nt've (informal) | he did not have / he would not have |
| he'll | he shall / he will |
| helluva (informal) | hell of a |
| yesn't (informal) | yes not / no |
| he’s | he has / he is |
| here’s | here is |
| how’d (informal) | how did / how would |
| howdy (informal) | how do you do / how do you fare |
| how’ll | how will / how shall |
| how’re | how are |
| how’s | how has / how is / how does |
| I’d | I had / I would |
| I’d’ve | I would have / I did have |
| I’d’nt | I would not / I did not |
| I’d’nt’ve (informal) | I would not have / I did not have |
| If’n (informal) | If and when |
| I’ll | I shall / I will |
| I’m | I am |
| I’m'onna | I am going to |
| Imma (informal) | I am about to / I am going to |
| I’m’o (informal) | I am going to |
| I’m'na | I am going to |
| innit (informal) | isn’t it / ain’t it (also all-purpose question tag - British colloq.) |
| Ion (informal) | I do not / I don't |
| I’ve | I have |
| isn’t | is not |
| it’d | it would |
| it’ll | it shall / it will |
| it’s | it has / it is |
| Idunno (informal) | I do not know |
| kinda (informal) | kind of |
| lemme | let me |
| let’s | let us |
| loven’t (informal) | love not (colloquial) |
| ma’am (formal) | madam |
| mayn’t | may not |
| may’ve | may have |
| methinks (informal) | I think |
| mightn’t | might not |
| might’ve | might have |
| mine’s | mine is |
| mustn’t | must not |
| mustn’t’ve | must not have |
| must’ve | must have |
| ’neath (informal) | beneath |
| needn’t | need not |
| nal (informal) | and all |
| ne’er (informal) | never |
| no one's | no one has / no one is |
| o’clock | of the clock |
| o’er | over |
| ol’ | old |
| ought’ve | ought have |
| oughtn’t | ought not |
| oughtn’t’ve | ought not have |
| ’round | around |
| ’s | is, has, does, us / possessive |
| shalln’t | shall not (archaic) |
| shan’ | shall not |
| shan’t | shall not |
| she’d | she had / she would |
| she’ll | she shall / she will |
| she’s | she has / she is |
| she'd'nt've (informal) | she did not have / she would not have |
| should’ve | should have |
| shouldn’t | should not |
| shouldn’t’ve (informal) | should not have |
| somebody’s | somebody has / somebody is |
| someone’s | someone has / someone is |
| something’s | something has / something is |
| so’re (informal) | so are (colloquial) |
| so’s (informal) | so is / so has |
| so’ve (informal) | so have |
| that’ll | that shall / that will |
| that’re (informal) | that are |
| that’s | that has / that is |
| that’d | that would / that had |
| there’d | there had / there would |
| there’ll | there shall / there will |
| there’re | there are |
| there’s | there has / there is |
| these’re | these are |
| these’ve | these have |
| they’d | they had / they would |
| they’d've | they would have / they could have / they should have |
| they’ll | they shall / they will |
| they’re | they are / they were |
| they’ve | they have |
| this’s | this has / this is |
| those’re (informal) | those are |
| those’ve (informal) | those have |
| ’thout (informal) | without |
| ’til (informal) | until |
| ’tis (informal) | it is |
| to’ve (informal) | to have |
| tryna (informal) | trying to |
| ’twas (informal) | it was |
| ’tween (informal) | between |
| ’twere (informal) | it were |
| w’all | we all |
| w’at | we at |
| wanna | want to |
| wasn’t | was not |
| we’d | we had / we would / we did |
| we’d’ve | we would have |
| we’ll | we shall / we will |
| we’re | we are |
| we’ve | we have |
| weren’t | were not |
| whatcha | what are you |
| what’d | what did |
| what’ll | what shall / what will |
| what’re | what are / what were |
| what’s | what has / what is / what does |
| what’ve | what have |
| when’d | when did |
| when’s | when has / when is |
| where’d | where did |
| where’ll | where shall / where will |
| where’re | where are |
| where’s | where has / where is / where does |
| where’ve | where have |
| which’d | which had / which would |
| which’ll | which shall / which will |
| which’re | which are |
| which’s | which has / which is |
| which’ve | which have |
| who’d | who would / who had / who did |
| who’d’ve | who would have |
| who’ll | who shall / who will |
| who’re | who are |
| who’s | who has / who is / who does |
| who’ve | who have |
| why’d | why did |
| why'dja | why did you |
| why’re | why are |
| why’s | why has / why is / why does |
| willn’t | will not (archaic) |
| won’t | will not |
| wonnot | will not (archaic) |
| would’ve | would have |
| wouldn’t | would not |
| wouldn’t’ve | would not have |
| y’ain’t | you are not / you have not / you did not (colloquial) |
| y’all | you all (colloquial/Southern American English) |
| y’all’d’ve | you all would have (colloquial/Southern American English) |
| y’all’dn't’ve | you all would not have (colloquial/Southern American English) |
| y’all’re | you all are (colloquial/Southern American English) |
| y’all’ren’t | you all are not (colloquial/Southern American English) |
| y’at | you at |
| yes’m | yes madam / yes ma’am |
| y'ever | have you ever |
| y’know | you know |
| yessir | yes sir |
| you’d | you had / you would |
| you’dn’t’ve | you would not have / you wouldn’t have |
| you’ll | you shall / you will |
| you’re | you are |
| you’ve | you have |
- ^ Ain’t is used colloquially by some speakers as a substitute for a number of contractions, but is considered incorrect by others.
- ^ Amn’t is primarily used in Scottish and Irish English.
- ^ Aren’t is usually a contraction of “are not”; however, it can be used as a contraction of “am not” in questions (e.g. “Aren’t I the greatest?”), though this is often considered colloquial.
- ^ Don’t can be used to mean “does not”; however, this is considered colloquial to most speakers.