Contractions
Contractions are a type of abbreviation in which letters from the middle of the word are omitted. Examples include:
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contraction
|
full form
|
|
Dr.
|
Doctor
|
|
St.
|
Saint
|
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Assn.
|
Association |
The rule in American English is to include a period at the end of this type of contraction.
A contraction can also be an abbreviated form of more than one word. For example:
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contraction
|
full form
|
|
I’ll
|
I will/I shall
|
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we’ve
|
we have
|
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shouldn’t
|
should not
|
In contractions that represent more than one word, the letters that have been omitted should be replaced with an apostrophe.