The word contraction means “shortening” or “becoming smaller.” We make a contraction by shortening two words into one word. Many contractions are made with the adverb not.
Here are some examples:
do not = don’t
does not = doesn’t
did not = didn’t
should not = shouldn’t
would not = wouldn’t
could not = couldn’t
have not = haven’t
had not = hadn’t
is not = isn’t
can not = can’t
In each case, we made the contraction by bumping the two words together and taking out the o in not. Notice that we replace the missing o with an apostrophe (‘ ).
It’s easy to use contractions. Just replace the two words with a one-word contraction, like this:
Bob is not in school today. Bob isn’t in school today.
Mom can not pick me up after school. Mom can’t pick me up after school.
Sam does not run fast. Sam doesn’t run fast.
A contraction is two words shortened into one. We often make contractions with the adverb not. An apostrophe replaces the letter o in the adverb not when making a contraction.