Contractions
Second Grade Grammar
Contractions
A
contraction is one word that
is made by putting together two
separate words and shortening
them.
Contractions Know How
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There are about 70 contractions in the
English language.
Most contraction are made by leaving
out two letters like the word she will
(she’ll).
Some contractions are missing only one
letter.
Words are squeezed together.
Contractions with I and am
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Whenever there is a contraction with I, I must
be capitalized.
You will only use am with I in a contraction.
Replace the a with an apostrophe. Squeeze
the words together.
I + am = I’m
Contractions with is
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If is is part of the two words that make up
the contraction, you will leave out the i
and replace with an apostrophe.
Squeeze the words together.
she + is = she’s
he + is = he’s
it + is = it’s
that + is = that’s
Contractions with are

If are is part of the two words that make
up the contraction, you will leave out the
a and replace with an apostrophe.
Squeeze the words together.
they + are = they’re
we + are = we’re
you + are = you’re
Contractions with will

If will is part of the two words that make up the contraction,
you will leave out the w and i and replace with an
apostrophe. Squeeze the words together.
she + will = she’ll
I + will = I’ll
they + will = they’ll
we + will = we’ll
he + will = he’ll
you + will = you’ll
it + will = it’ll
Contractions with not
If not is part of the two words that make up the
contraction, you will leave out the o and replace with an
apostrophe. Squeeze the words together.
have + not = haven’t
does + not = doesn’t
is + not = isn’t
do + not = don’t
had + not = hadn’t
must + not = mustn’t
could + not = couldn’t
would + not = wouldn’t
should + not = shouldn’t
can + not = can’t (leave out one of the n’s)
will+ not = won’t (not willn’t!!!!!!!!!!)
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Contractions with have
If have is part of the two words that make up
the contraction, you will leave out the ha and
replace with an apostrophe. Squeeze the
words together.
I + have = I’ve
they + have = they’ve
we + have = we’ve
you + have = you’ve
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Contractions with had
If had is part of the two words that make
up the contraction, you will leave out the
ha and replace with an apostrophe.
Squeeze the words together.
I + had = I’d
they + had = they’d
we + had = we’d
you + had = you’d
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Contractions with has
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If has is part of the two words that make up the
contraction, you will leave out the ha and
replace with an apostrophe. Squeeze the
words together. This one is tricky because you
can us is too!
she + has = she’s
he + has = he’s
it + has = it’s
that + has = that’s