contraction
part of speech
noun (a contraction, contractions)
meaning for a pupil
1) In grammar, a contraction is a short form made by joining two words with an apostrophe, like «don't» (do not) or «I'm» (I am). tree →
2) In science, contraction means getting smaller or shorter, like a metal shrinking when it cools or a muscle tightening. tree →
3) Contractions are the tightenings of the womb when a baby is about to be born. tree →
sense in the lessons
In English lessons, the apostrophe in a contraction shows where letters are missing: can't = cannot, it's = it is. In science, metals expand when heated and contract when cooled. Muscles move bones by contraction. Contractions are not used in very formal writing.
examples
- «Won't» is a contraction of «will not». tree →
- The apostrophe shows the missing letters in a contraction. tree →
- Cold weather causes contraction of the metal rails. tree →
- Muscle contraction makes your arm bend. tree →
- Mum's contractions started, so they went to the hospital. tree →
- Write the contraction for «they are». tree →
note
Verb: contract. Trap: «it's» (it is) vs «its» (belonging to it); «you're» vs «your». Opposite of contraction (getting smaller) is expansion.
In the corpora
- Diaries often use informal language and contractions such as I'm, can't and didn't.
- A contraction squeezes two words into one with an apostrophe, like could've for could have.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «contraction» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.