Explanation
Contractions are short forms of two words.
The 15 most common ones are "I'm, you're, he's, she's, it's, we're, they're, I've, you've, we'll, they'll, don't, can't, isn't, and won't."
They are very common in speech and in informal writing. For example, in "I don't know, but I'll ask him," "don't" means "do not," and "I'll" means "I will." Here, "I" is the subject, "don't know" is the negative verb, and "but" joins two ideas. Japanese often uses full words more often, but English short forms sound natural and friendly in everyday talk.
短縮形は、2語を1語のように短くした形です。
よく使う15個は "I'm, you're, he's, she's, it's, we're, they're, I've, you've, we'll, they'll, don't, can't, isn't, won't" です。
会話やカジュアルな文でとてもよく使います。たとえば "I don't know, but I'll ask him." では、"don't" は "do not"、"I'll" は "I will" の短縮形です。ここでは "I" が主語、"don't know" が否定の動き、"but" が2つの内容をつないでいます。日本語は英語ほど動詞を短くしないので、英語ではこの短い形に慣れると自然です。
Examples
- I'm ready. 準備できています。
- You're my friend. あなたは私の友だちです。
- She's at school today. 彼女は今日は学校にいます。
- What's your email address? メールアドレスは何ですか。
- We can't stay long. 長くはいられません。
- I don't know, but I'll ask him. わかりませんが、彼に聞いてみます。
Common Mistakes
Japanese learners often forget the apostrophe and write "dont", "im", or "hes". The correct forms are "don't", "I'm", and "he's". In casual English, use the apostrophe so the contraction is clear.
日本人学習者は、アポストロフィーを忘れて "dont", "im", "hes" のように書きがちです。正しくは "don't", "I'm", "he's" です。カジュアルな英語では、短縮形だと分かるようにアポストロフィーを入れましょう。