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Bárbara 益バルバラ
Contractions: they aren't x they're not, etc
Hi!
I've been thinking about it because sometimes for me it sounds better (or easier, lol) to say "they're not" instead of "they aren't", and so on with other contractions such as "you aren't", "it isn't", for example.
Is it incorrect to say/write contractions like this? E.g. "it's not" instead of "it isn't"? I don't know if both ways are grammatically fine, but the first ones sound more informal/colloquial to me than the others.
Thanks in advance!
;-)
9 aug. 2016 01:21
Antwoorden · 7
3
You have to think about how it's spoken, and naturally, English tends to an alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables. (In this respect, it has something in common with Portuguese, which I see is your native language.) So when you say something like "they are not coming", then you have to ask what the important thing is. That word will wind up stressed. Also, the first syllable of "coming' attracts stress. Then the contractions tend to "eat up" what is left over. Sometimes that favours a particular expression and sometimes it doesn't.
Thus:
- "THEY aren't coming" -- but the other guys are
- "They're NOT coming" -- even although you just said they would be
9 augustus 2016
2
Both ways are grammatically okay, but you're right in saying that the first options are slightly more colloquial and informal. So in daily conversation I would say "it's not" or "you're not" frequently but in more formal conversations or in written form I would probably choose to say "it isn't/it is not" or "you aren't/you are not."
9 augustus 2016
1
I'd never really thought about it before, but as an American native speaker, I frankly don't see any difference at all. For example, "They aren't coming to the party" or "They're not coming to the party"; or, "It's not too cold to play outside" vs. "It isn't too cold to play outside." Your question is a good one, but I see no difference between the two, either in terms of meaning or formality.
9 augustus 2016
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Bárbara 益バルバラ
Taalvaardigheden
Engels, Duits, Japans, Portugees, Russisch, Spaans
Taal die wordt geleerd
Engels, Japans
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