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Босна и Херцегoвина
БРЧКО ДИСТРИКТ
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универзитет Брчко
INTERNACIONALNI UNIVERZITET BRČKO
Saobraćajno inžinjerstvo
SEMINARSKI RAD
PREDMET: (POSLOVNI) ENGLESKI JEZIK I
Tema:
Short forms (I'm, you've, etc.)
Mentor:
Student: Željko Milinković
Kristina Varcaković
Broj indexa:
OS-460/14
Brčko 15/01/2015
3
1. Using short forms
Contractions are mainly used in
speech
and
informal writing
. They should not be used in
formal writing, like you can see in the text below:
"The User also agrees that the aforementioned individuals are
not
responsible for any Internet
Usage Fees incurred while using the Site. The User agrees that the aforementioned individuals
may
not
be sued or be held responsible for anything, as this is a free service and use is voluntary.
Should the User
NOT
agree that the aforementioned individuals are removed from all
responsibilities, the User should
not
use the Service."
We often "contract" or shorten words in English. For example, we may say "he's" instead of "he
is". Note that we usually insert an apostrophe (') in place of the missing letter or letters in
writing. Here are some example sentences.
I haven't seen him. = I have not seen him.
Who's calling? = Who is calling?
They're coming. = They are coming.
We do this especially when we speak. We do not contract words so much in writing.
2. Contractions and possessive pronouns
Contractions are often confused with possessive pronouns, because of identical pronunciation.
Look at below sentences. Which of them are correct?
-
Their sleeping in a tent today. (a)
-
They're sleeping in a tent today. (b)
-
Has the lion lost its roar? (c)
-
Has the lion lost it's roar? (d)
-
It's me! (e)
-
Its me! (f)
The correct answers are: b, c, and e.
a and e are contracted forms of the verb to "be", c is a possessive pronoun.
The remaining sentences are incorrect because a possessive pronoun has been used instead of a
contracted form, or vice versa.
