If you have ever been asked to work on coursework writing, you have probably used contractions in that writing. English contractions are common words used in most types of writing, majorly in informal writing. In coursework writing, you only use them where necessary and those that are established in the English language.
You may have used contractions in your writing many times. However, do you know the meaning of English contractions? Do you know about the importance of contractions in coursework writing? Do you have an idea of what are the types of contractions? It is sad to know that you are unaware of such important things about contractions. However, there is no need to worry because today’s article is on this topic. In today’s article, I will answer all of the questions mentioned above. So, let’s get started with the meaning of contractions.
What are English contractions? Explain with suitable examples.
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Whether you know it or not, you are familiar with contractions from the early days of your academic life. The contractions are shortened versions of two or three words or phrases. In fact, a word that you most commonly see in English writing, “you’re”, is also a contraction of two words “, you are.” Contractions are a significant part of English grammar. Why? It is because they reduce the choppiness in your writing and help in creating an informal or friendly tone in your coursework writing.
Examples
Contractions are mostly formed by removing some letters from two or three words and inserting an apostrophe. Below are some examples that you see most commonly in coursework writing, and you can also use them in your coursework writing.
- Do not become “don’t” when used as a contraction
- Will not become “won’t.”
- Is not become “isn’t or ain’t.”
- Does not become “doesn’t”
- Should not become “shouldn’t.”
Importance of English contractions in coursework writing
You might think that contractions are informal and cannot be used in formal writing like coursework. You are right, but in some cases, where the student is studying English literature, prose, and poetry, contractions become an important part of their coursework. So, for those students, using contractions is very important. Why do they need to use them? A brief description of the points explaining its importance is as follows:
1. Make words smaller and easier to understand
English literature students do not need to explain everything in their writing like engineering, and business students do. The contractions in their coursework mostly do the work. Each type of contraction has its own meaning, and it helps the reader understand the meaning of the sentence or poetic line easily. In addition to this, it presents in a shortened form and makes them easy to understand.
2. Better communication
The English contractions are mostly used in conversational-style writings. Therefore, it is important to use them in coursework writing as they can better communicate your feelings, thoughts, and actions. When you use contractions, communication also becomes fast. The reason is that contractions are faster to say as compared to reading the whole word. So, due to better communication, it is important to use contractions.
3. Make writing more natural
From a plain language perspective, it is important to use contractions in coursework writing because they make writing more natural and less stuffy. As they look natural, it means the readability of your coursework is also going to increase. Several research studies have shown that contractions increase the readability of your coursework.
4. Demonstrate a higher level of fluency
Do you wonder how coursework writing services that you hire for yourself maintain effective communication of ideas? Yes, they use contractions in your coursework writing. The reason is that the use of contractions in coursework writing demonstrates a higher level of fluency. This fluency also helps the reader in pronouncing the shortened words.
5. Simplify the sentences
As contractions are a combination of two or three words, the resultant shortened form makes it easy to pronounce the contraction. This easiness in pronouncing the words simplifies the sentence and lets the reader understand it completely and effectively. Thus, this simplicity of understating makes it important to use English contractions in coursework writing.
What are the 4 common types of contractions in English grammar?
From the discussion above, you now have a good idea of contractions and their importance in coursework writing, especially in the coursework of English literature students. Now, let’s shed some light on the 4 common types of contractions that you mostly encounter in the English language. Hence, a brief description of all the types is as follows:
- Subject pronoun + verb. The common type of contractions used in coursework writing is a combination of subject pronouns and verbs. For example, the subject pronoun “I” and verb “will” combine to create a contraction “I’ll.”
- Interrogative adverbs + verb. When you are writing an interrogative sentence, you can combine a verb and an interrogative adverb (what) to create a contraction. An example of this is “what’s”, where “what” is an interrogative adverb and “is” is a verb.
- Verb + not (n’t). English contractions can be positive and negative. To create a negative contraction, you can combine a verb and not. For example, the verb “can” and the word “not” can be combined to give birth to a contraction “can’t.”
- Informal contractions. Informal contractions are the contractions that depict how a word sounds. You lessen the words that do not take part in pronouncing the word and make a new word. For example, the word “moving” can be contracted to “movin.” However, informal contractions have no place in any coursework writing.
Conclusion
Hence, it is all about contractions, their meaning in English grammar and their importance in English writing. English contractions maintain a high level of fluency in your ideas, especially in your English literature coursework. So, learn how to use them and their types. The 4 most common types are discussed above. So, take a look and use them accordingly in your writing.
