Grammar! Danger and Intrigue: Contractions! · 8:54am Sep 17th, 2013
"What? Another Grammar blog so soon? But, Comrade, our brains aren't ready!" I hear you scream.
Well, people of the internet, I have a question for you.
Pic created by my good friend, SpaceCommie
And yeah, I guess that's all it takes to get a shoutout on my blog.
Give me a picture to use so I don't have to hustle one up myself.
This will be a much shorter blog than previous ones. As requested by Danger Beans, I'm going to go over Contractions. What they are, and why to use them. I might even throw some bonus information in there because I like information. Information is nice.
Onward!
What is a contraction?
A contraction is an elision that combines two words into one using an apostrophe ( ' ). Functionally this means that we write one word, and get two. A few common examples.
You're = You + are
We're = We are
Won't = Will not
Couldn't = Could not
It's = It is
You might have noticed a couple rules of thumb you can follow in regards to them. When you combine it with a positive and "are" you add "-'re" to the end. When you combine it with a negative, you add "-n't" to the end. "-'re" means "are" and "-n't" means "not".
You also might have noticed that "Will not" became "Won't". That probably doesn't make any sense. Well, I have some bad news. Sometimes English doesn't make perfect sense, this is an "irregular" contraction. You just have to memorize the few that are out there.
Now, some more bad news. You will probably run into two common errors in regards to contractions. The first is with homophones.
Two words are homophones when they sound the same, but are different words. In English we tell the difference via context, and sometimes jokes involve plays on the double meaning of words. (We call these "double-entendre"'s—a phrase we borrow straight from French meaning "two hearings"). Other times they can be mixed up with completely different and unrelated words because they look the same. In writing you'll find a couple will pop their heads up. I'll reuse the examples above.
"You're" sounds like "Your"
"We're" can sound like "Were"
"Won't" looks like "Wont" (If you don't know what this is, it sounds like "want" and means "habit". A typical phrase would be "As is my wont...")
"It's" sounds like "Its"
And here we get to the other major pitfall people fall into. Possessives. The Elephant in the room is "It's" versus "Its". It's actually an error that still haunts me to this day. (The same distinction, by the way, is used between "you're" and "your". Keep that in mind.)
When you write the possessive of a proper noun, a form used to show ownership, you add an "-'s" to the end. When you use "It" as a pronoun, and then want to show possession, you DO NOT do this. You just use "Its".
The car's alarm.
Its alarm.
I'll leave you on one last note on how you can apply this knowledge to writing. Contractions are the norm in casual speech. They naturally flow together more than enunciating each and every syllable. If you want to write dialogue you can use this to your advantage, and use plenty of contractions. If you want a character to seem overtly or explicitly formal, try writing out the component words. Here's an example.
I do not know, Twilight. It is your decision to make.
versus
I don't know, Twilight. It's your decision.
The former sentence oozes a sort of drama that could either add to a scene or come off as really hammy. The latter is just run-of-the-mill dialogue that is casual and reads smoothly.
In The Errant Sun I use a casual tone coupled with contractions when Twilight is speaking, as Twilight is generally an earnest individual; I use a formal diction coupled with contractions when Celestia speaks, to show her as somewhat formal and benevolent ruler with a tendency to remain aloof on principle; and lastly I write Luna as having a formal and occasionally archaic syntax and not using contractions (while not actually using the Royal Canterlot Voice), to show being an immortal out-of-time as well as placing more importance on position and hierarchy.
That about wraps it up. As ever if you have any questions, leave them in the comments. I'll be glad to help.
Cheers,
-Comrade
I really wanted to make a double entendre
But neigh, the universe conspires against me.
And so, dear red, I'll stop wasting time
But might I suggest a blog about rhyme?
Meters and meanings and flow all about
It's all quite enough to drive me to shout!
Although grammar and rhyme may not fall together
There's simply no reason to brush it a-feather~
Amateur rhymes at oh four hundred.
1355542
I love you
1355543
Nly fr u bby.
And this is why we don't trust the spell checker.
Link added to my user page. Keep 'em coming, Comrade!
1355799
Certainly! Now that I have parts of speech taken care of I was thinking I should breach the beast: Comma rules.
Thoughts?
1355805
May God have mercy on your soul...
Thank God this is out. Another one bites the dust.
Contractions are my second biggest pet peeve right after epithets.
And I'm sincerely looking forward to you fighting the comma beast comrade.
This is still on the top of your user page . . .
1421103
I've been focusing on other things~
I'll probably write up the semicolon guide I mentioned earlier within the next week. I won't start drafting it until after I'm done with the TwiDash contest entry I'm working on.
Not to mention I still have to finish the last scene of the next chapter of The Errant Sun.
Comrade has a lot to do
.
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I was referring to the fact that I came to your user page to PM you . . . and I still missed the contraction blog. I only update the Reference once every month anyways so take as much time as you need.
Also, I'm thinking I might write up a little blog of my own, on idioms to be exact.
1426095
Ooh. I am interested. I look forward to seeing it.
Edit: It looks like you're still missing this from the one on your user-page.
1426108
Oh thanks for the pressure
It's not going to be as in-depth as your grammar guides, but it will address a lot of common mistakes I see people make, being angry at someone instead of being angry with them, etc...
I'm sure you know what I mean.