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HOW TO PRONOUNCE
POSITIVE
CONTRACTIONS
PRONUNCIATION/GRAMMAR LESSON
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It's time to learn a bit more about contractions. This is a

lesson I'm sure you'll love! Contractions are a big part of
speaking naturally and fluently. Native English speakers
use them constantly. This lesson will teach you how to
pronounce the most common positive contractions
properly.

CONTRACTIONS IN REVIEW
Contractions are formed when we take two short words
and combine them into one. We often use verbs,
auxiliaries and modals combined with a pronoun to form
contractions.

The most common contractions are formed with:

am, is, are, had, has, would, and will.

For example:
I + will = I'll
Notice that we have to use an apostrophe to show that
we have taken out a few letters to make the contraction.

CONTRACTIONS WITH BE VERBS

Uncontracted Contracted Pronunciation Example

I’m sorry I’m late. There

I am I'm /aɪm/ is so much traffic
today!

/hiːz/
He’s at the store now,
He is He’s /his/
but he’ll be back soon.
/ɪz/

/ʃiːz/ She’s the smartest in

She is She’s
/ʃiz/ the group!

It’s not supposed to go

It is It’s /ɪts/ in the cupboard; it
goes in the refrigerator.

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/jʊə(r)/
You are You’re You’re right about that!
/jɔː(r)/

Alright, we’re off to the

We are We’re /wɪə(r)/ cinema. See you in a
few hours.

They’re still here. Do

They are They're /ðeə(r)/ you want me to get
them for you?

CONTRACTIONS WITH HAS,

HAVE, HAD
Has, have and had can be used to make contractions, but
only when used as auxiliary verbs.
I'd
Auxiliary:
We cannot
I had just heard the news use
has, have or
when you called me. had
as a contra
ction if
it's the mai
Main Verb: n verb
in a senten
I had a cup of coffee this ce.
I'd
morning.

Uncontracted Contracted Pronunciation Example

/ʃiːz/ She’s been working

She has She’s
/ʃiz/ late most nights.

/hiːz/ He’s got a meeting at

He has He’s
/his/ 10.

It’s been sitting out all

It has It’s /ɪts/
night.

SHE IS OR SHE HAS?

A trick to figuring out if the contraction represents “is”

or “has” is to see how the sentence is conjugated. If
you see a past participle (been, seen, eaten) after the
contraction, the 's represents “has”.
He
has Examples:
He's been here for 20 minutes.
He's in your office.
He is

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Uncontracted Contracted Pronunciation Example

I have I’ve /aɪv/ I’ve been here all day!

You’ve come all this

You have You’ve /juːv/ way just to break up
with me?

/wiːv/ We’ve taken the dog to

We have We’ve
/wiv/ the vet.

Uncontracted Contracted Pronunciation Example

I’d been studying

English for three years
I had I'd /aɪd/
before moving to
Leeds.

You would have

You had You'd /juːd/
passed if you’d studied.

She’d been sleeping all

She had She'd /ʃiːd/ day when he called
her.

He’d left before us but

He had He'd /hiːd/
was still late. 

We’d seen him around

/wiːd/ the office, but we
We had We'd
/wid/ didn’t know he was
the new boss. 

They’d eaten before

They had They'd /ðeɪd/
coming over.

CONTRACTIONS WITH WOULD

Uncontracted Contracted Pronunciation Example

I would I'd /aɪd/ I’d like to visit London.

You’d look good in this

You would You'd /juːd/
dress.

He’d love to spend

He would He'd /hiːd/
time with his family.

She’d like to go on
She would She’d /ʃiːd/
holiday.

It’d be great to see you

It would It’d /ˈɪtəd/
when you’re back!

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/wiːd/ We’d love to come to

We would We'd
/wid/ your wedding.

They’d take the train,

They would They'd /ðeɪd/ but the tickets are too
expensive.

HAD OR WOULD?

Once again, we have some very familiar

pronunciations. So how do we know if the
contractions represent “had” or “would”?

Here are some tips to help you!

Would Had

Would is followed by an A past participle follows had:

infinitive:

I’d eaten…
She would go... = She’d go… He’d gotten…
I would love... = I’d love…

The present perfect tense

follows would:

They’d have slept…

I’d have given…

CONTRACTIONS WITH WILL

Uncontracted Contracted Pronunciation Example

I’ll come round later

I will I'll /aɪl/
today.

I am a great cook, you’ll

You will You'll /juːl/
see!

He’ll put it on his credit

He will He'll /hiːl/
card.

She will She'll /ʃiːl/ She’ll sleep on the sofa.

It’ll need some food and

It will It'll /ˈɪtl/
water in the morning.

/wiːl/
We will We'll We’ll see you next week.
/wil/

They’ll move your

They will They'll /ðeɪl/
luggage for you/

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OTHER COMMON
CONTRACTIONS
Here are a few other contractions you’ll probably hear
but don’t follow the same “pronoun + word” pattern.

Uncontracted Contracted Pronunciation Example

We should’ve left
Should have should’ve /ʃədəv/
much earlier!

She would’ve been

Would have would’ve /wʊdəv/
so angry!

Could have could’ve /kədəv/ They could’ve come.

I wanna go to yoga
Want to wanna /ˈwɒnə/
in the morning. 

I’m gonna finish this

Going to gonna /ˈɡənə/
project.

The first use of contractions Old

Engl
dates back to the 7th Century ish
nol
in Old English. The words used (wou de
ldn't
)
in Old English are vastly
different compared to Modern
English, but contractions were
used extensively.

Writers like Shakespeare

'tis defined the birth of Modern
(it is) English. Contractions were
used throughout the early
16th Century, as seen in
re Shakespeare's plays. In fact,
'twe ) there were far more
(it were
contractions used in those
early times.

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Quiz
Choose the correct contraction to replace the underlined
pronunciation transcription in the sentence.
1) /ˈɪtl/ be easier to scoop if you leave it on the counter for a few
minutes.

a. It shall
b. It will
c. It is

2) I can't believe /juːv/ just gotten in! Come and have a rest.

a. they've
b. I've
c. you've

3) /hiːz/ been up all night waiting for the rain to stop.

a. He's
b. He is
c. Hes

4) I can't believe I did that; /aɪm/ so sorry!

a. I's
b. I'm
c. Im
Choose the contraction that best completes each sentence.

5) We are ______________ go to the mall in an hour if you'd like

to join.

a. going to
b. gonna'
c. gonna

6) __________ in the middle of something right now; can I take a

message?

a. She's
b. She'd
c. She'll

7) ____________ look for a place to eat after we check in.

a. Will
b. We'll
c. Well

8) ___________ sitting on the bed again. I thought you trained

your cats not to do that?

a. Theyre
b. They'd
c. They're
1) b 2) c 3) a 4) b 5) c 6) a 7) b 8) c

The End

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