Contractions

Contractions are shortened versions of written and spoken forms of words by omitting internal letters and sounds.

In This Article

• Why Use Contractions
• Guidelines

Why Use Contractions

• Contractions communicate a friendly tone. Technical writing in general is not formal or scientific.
• If used thoughtfully, contractions sound natural and relaxed and make reading more enjoyable.
• People are accustomed to hearing contractions in spoken English, and when you use them in your writing, this helps them relate to your document.
• In technical documentation, the acceptable use of contractions is limited because depending on their use, contractions may also be confusing.

Guidelines

• Use only unambiguous contractions, because contractions may sound vague and misleading for non-native speakers.

  Phrase	Can be interpreted as
  The dog's ...	Possessive form: The dog’s leg was... The dog is... The dog has...
  I'd	I would I had
  who's	who is who has who was

• To create emphasis, use the uncontracted phrase.

  Not so good	Much better
  Don't run the build before applying the necessary settings.	Do not run the build before applying the necessary settings.

• Use the following list of accepted and unaccepted contractions.

  In technical documentation, many of the contractions in the Use column have to be generally avoided for other reasons, such as the requirements to write for a global target audience and the need to avoid culture-specific and pop-culture language.

  Learn more about:

  • Tone and Voice

  • Basic Rules and Guidelines

  Use

  Do not use

  aren't can't, cannot shouldn't, couldn't didn't don't, doesn't haven’t, hasn’t hadn't I'm let's o'clock

  you’ll (I’ll, he’ll, she’ll, it’ll, we’ll, they’ll) you’re (he’s, she’s, it’s, we’re, they’re) you'd (I’d, she’d, it’d, we’d, they’d) you’ve (I’ve, he’s, she’s, we’ve, they’ve) would’ve, could’ve, should’ve, must've, might've would’ve, could’ve, should’ve, must've, might've couldn't, shouldn't, mightn't, mustn't that's, that'd, that'll there's, there're who's, who'd, who'll what's, what'll, what'd, what're where's, where'll, where'd when's, when'd, when'll why's, why'd, why'll how's, how's, how'll won't wouldn't I’ll, I’ve, I’d It’s (it has, it was) isn't, aren't, wasn't, weren't kinda, gotcha, wanna, whatcha, lemme, gimme she'd've, 'tisn't