Contractions are now becoming more and more common in written English, thanks to the advent of email and instant messaging. An advantage of using contractions is that they save time and space. Here is a quick overview of contractions with it, there, that, we and they.
It’s — It is / has — Example: It’s raining. OR It’s never been this difficult.
It’ll — It will — Example: It’ll be my last chance.
It’d — It would / had — Example: It’d be difficult to convince him. OR It’d been a long time.
We’re — We are — Example: We’re impressed with their performance.
We’ll — We will — Example: We’ll start when he arrives.
We’d — We had / would — Example: We’d better leave now. (= We had better leave now.) OR When we’re children we’d go fishing every Sunday. (= When we were children we would go fishing every Sunday.)
They’re — They are — Example: They’re playing in the garden.
They’ll — They will — Example: They’ll come.
They’d — They had / would — Example: They’d left by the time we reached there. (= They had left by the time we reached there.) OR They’d never admit their mistake.
They’ve — They have — Example: They’ve just arrived.
There’s — There is / has — Example: There’s a spider on the wall. OR There’s never been such an emergency!
There’ll — There will — Example: There’ll be snow on high ground.
There’d — There had / would — Example: There’d be some reason for that.
That’s — That is / has — Example: That’s why I am not interested. (= That is why I am not interested.) That’s never been on my mind. (That has never been on my mind.)
That’ll — That will — Example: That’ll not be easy.
That’d — That had / would — Example: That’d be interesting. (That would be interesting.) OR That’d never happened before. (= That had never happened before.)
