Second Grade English: Apostrophes in Contractions (can't, isn't, don't, I'm)

When people talk with their friends, they rarely speak with stiff, formal phrases like: "I cannot go outside because it is raining and they do not have an umbrella." Instead, speakers naturally squeeze words together to make speech faster and smoother: "I can't go outside because it's raining and they don't have an umbrella." In written English, when two words are compressed into one shorter word, that new word is called a contraction. To show where letters were dropped, we use a special punctuation mark called an apostrophe. In this chapter, you will master the mechanics of contractions, understand how the apostrophe acts as a placeholder, and learn second grade's most essential contraction pairs.

The Science of a Contraction

The word contract means to shrink or squeeze smaller. A contraction shrinks two words into one compact word by removing one or more letters and inserting an apostrophe in their exact place.

+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
|                    THE CONTRACTION SMUSH MACHINE                |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
|                                                                 |
|     Word 1: [ CAN ]      +      Word 2: [ NOT ]                 |
|                                                                 |
|                               =                                 |
|                                                                 |
|     Smushed Together:  C - A - N - [ n - o ] - T                |
|                                                                 |
|     Remove letters "n" and "o"!                                 |
|     Insert an APOSTROPHE to mark the missing letters!           |
|                                                                 |
|                        [ C A N ' T ]                            |
|                                                                 |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+

The Apostrophe is a Tombstone for Missing Letters

Think of the apostrophe as a little gravestone or placeholder marking where letters used to live. In can't, the apostrophe sits where the letters n and o were dropped. In isn't, the apostrophe marks where the letter o disappeared. Never place the apostrophe between the two original words; place it precisely where the missing letters vanished!

Master Contraction Families of Second Grade

Contractions group into clean, predictable families based on the second word being squeezed.

+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
|                 SECOND GRADE CONTRACTION DIRECTORY              |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
|  Family Type   | Two Original Words | Squeezed Contraction      |
+----------------+--------------------+---------------------------+
|  The "NOT"     | is not             | isn't                     |
|  Family        | do not             | don't                     |
|  (Drops 'o')   | did not            | didn't                    |
|                | have not           | haven't                   |
|                | was not            | wasn't                    |
|                | can not            | can't (drops 'no')        |
|                | will not           | won't (special irregular!)|
+----------------+--------------------+---------------------------+
|  The "IS"      | he is              | he's                      |
|  Family        | she is             | she's                     |
|  (Drops 'i')   | it is              | it's                      |
|                | that is            | that's                    |
+----------------+--------------------+---------------------------+
|  The "AM"      | I am               | I'm (drops 'a')           |
|  The "ARE"     | you are            | you're (drops 'a')        |
|  Family        | we are             | we're (drops 'a')         |
|                | they are           | they're (drops 'a')       |
|  The "WILL"    | I will             | I'll (drops 'wi')         |
|  Family        | she will           | she'll (drops 'wi')       |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+

The Rebel Contraction: Won't

Look at the contraction won't: it stands for will not. Why does it spell won't instead of "willn't"? Centuries ago, people said "woll not," which contracted to won't. English kept this historic spelling because it rolls off the tongue so smoothly!

Contractions vs. Possessive Nouns

Both contractions and possessive nouns use apostrophes, but they do completely different jobs: Possessive noun: "The dog's bone" -> The bone belongs to the dog (shows ownership). Contraction: "The dog's barking" -> Short for The dog is barking (two words squeezed together). Test by expanding: If you can replace the word with two words (dog is), it is a contraction!

Practice Exercises

Exercise 1: Write the contraction for each pair of words: do not, she is, I am, we are, cannot, will not.

Exercise 2: Identify the two original words that form each contraction: didn't, they're, it's, haven't.

Exercise Solutions

Solution to Exercise 1: The contractions are: don't (do not), she's (she is), I'm (I am), we're (we are), can't (cannot), and won't (will not).

Solution to Exercise 2: The original words are: did not (didn't), they are (they're), it is (it's), and have not (haven't).