"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.

Words like can't (can + not), don't (do + not), and I've (I + have) are all contractions. People use contractions in both speaking and writing. They're so common that movies and books often try to make characters seem old-fashioned or strange ...

May 2, 2025 - Contractions are words or phrases that have been shortened by omitting one or more letters. Typically, you can identify a contraction by the apostrophe that is used to indicate the place of the missing letters.

By definition, a contraction is a shortened form of a group of words. Contractions are used in

August 10, 2022 - Only certain words can be contracted: typically small and common words (not, is/are), especially pronouns (I, he/she/it, they), and modal verbs (can, will, might, must, should, would, could).

2 weeks ago - In addition to ce → c'- (demonstrative pronoun "that"), these words are que → qu'- (conjunction, relative pronoun, or interrogative pronoun "that"), ne → n'- ("not"), se → s'- ("himself", "herself", "itself", "oneself" before a verb), je → j'- ("I"), me → m'- ("me" before a verb), te → t'- (informal singular "you" before a verb), le or la → l'- ("the"; or "he", "she", "it" before a verb or after an imperative verb and before the word y or en), and de → d'- ("of"). Unlike with English contractions, however, those contractions are mandatory: one would never say (or write) *ce e

Not: I’m n’t or I am n’t. They are not is contracted to they aren’t or they’re not. The isn’t / aren’t contractions are more common after nouns. The ’s / ’re not contractions are more common after pronouns: The cakes aren’t ready yet. She’s not a friend of mine. Contractions can occur after nouns, names, here, there and now and question words.

March 9, 2006 - A contraction is a shortened form of one or two words (one of which is usually a verb). In a contraction, an apostrophe takes the place of the missing letter or letters. Some contractions are: I’m (I am), can’t (cannot), how’s (how is), ...

Contractions are a way to mash together two words in order to make them shorter. They also are a way to make your writing seem more conversational and have the reader feel included in the writing.

April 29, 2025 - In casual conversation, contractions in English involving nouns are fairly common ("My dad'll be home soon"). In writing, however, they're much rarer than contractions with pronouns such as I'll, he'd, and she's. You can contract proper nouns to mean is or has, such as in the sentence "Shelly's coming with us," or "Jeff's bought a new computer." Watch out for the homonyms who's and whose; the contraction is "who is" or "who has," and the whole word is possessive, as in "Whose car is that?"

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But I advise you not to use the more colloquial contractions like she'd've in your formal writing: these things, while perfectly normal in speech, are a little too informal for careful writing. Such contractions represent the most useful job the apostrophe does for us, since, without it, we would have no way of expressing in writing the difference between she'll and shell, he'll and hell, can't and cant, I'll and ill, we're and were, she'd and shed, we'll and well, and perhaps a few others. A few words which were contractions long ago are still conventionally written with apostrophes, even though the longer forms have more or less dropped out of use.

October 8, 2025 - All you need to do is omit one or more letters from the word or phrase and replace them with an apostrophe (in a written speech). Here is an extensive contraction grammar list with the most common types of contractions. ... I am → I'm. You are → You're. He / she / it is → He's /she's / it's. They have → They've.

August 31, 2022 - In order to do this, we often rely on a group of words known as contractions, which include words like I’ll, we’ve, and wasn’t. These shortened words are great in speech and we make good use of them in writing, too. But are they appropriate in every situation?

September 18, 2025 - Contractions, also known as “contracted words,” are abbreviations formed by combining two or more words and removing one or more of their letters. Usually, these letters are replaced with an apostrophe to indicate the word is contracted.

A contraction is a type of abbreviation. Contractions are formed by replacing missing letters with an apostrophe (e.g., you're, it's, they're) or by compressing a word (e.g., Mr., Prof., Rev.).

July 29, 2025 - Contractions are shortened versions of words or phrases formed by omitting certain letters. In writing, an apostrophe indicates the omission. Examples of

July 16, 2024 - Contractions combine two words into a short form with an apostrophe - I'm, he's, aren't, could've, etc. Learn 50 contractions + examples!