The verb to be, part 2 of 5

Verb To Be Contractions: I'm, You're, He's, She's, It's

In speech, I am becomes I'm, she is becomes she's, and they are becomes they're: I'm hungry, she's at work.

A1 · 12 minBefore:Verb to be: affirmative

The idea

What a contraction is

It is the short way to join the subject and am, is, or are. The apostrophe (') takes the place of the letter that goes.

People use it almost always in speech. I'm at home.
With is you get 's. She's busy.
With are you get 're. They're late.

When to use it

To sound natural in speech and to write messages the way people write them. These expressions go with it:

With I'm

I'm sorry
I'm fine
I'm on my way
I'm ready

With it's

It's OK
It's my turn
It's late

With you're and they're

You're welcome
You're right
They're here

Examples

Introducing yourself
I'm Julia.
How you feel
We're tired.
Who someone is
She's my boss.
The time
It's six o'clock.
Where they are
They're at the airport.

How to build it

3 steps

Put the subject and the verb togetherA pronoun with am, is, or are:she is
Drop the first letter of the verbAm loses the a; is, the i; are, the a:she is
Put the apostrophe in its placeAll together, no space:She's at home.

Short form

SubjectWe
'm / 's / 're're
complementfrom Chile.

From the long form to the short form

The apostrophe takes the place of the letter that goes

With amI amI'mthe a goes

I am tiredI'm tired
I am hereI'm here
I am AnaI'm Ana

With ishe ishe'sthe i goes

she isshe's
it isit's
he is readyhe's ready

With areyou areyou'rethe a goes

we arewe're
they arethey're
you are lateyou're late

The rule

They sound the same but are spelled differently

Contraction	Other word	Example
you're (you are)	your	You're late. Your bag is here.
it's (it is)	its	It's cold. The cat wants its food.
they're (they are)	their	They're here. Their car is red.

How to pronounce it

i'm
/aɪm/
One syllable: /aɪm/.
you're
/jʊr/
It sounds almost like your: /jʊr/.
he's
/hiz/
A soft h and an s that sounds like /z/.
she's
/ʃiz/
It starts with /ʃ/, not /tʃ/.
it's
/ɪts/
Here the s is /s/, right after the t.
we're
/wɪr/
One syllable: /wɪr/.
they're
/ðɛr/
The th is voiced /ð/, with the tongue between the teeth.

Check

(blank) my best friend. (she is) Which one goes in the blank?

Don't confuse it with your, its, and their

You're my friend.

Contraction: you are

Your friend is here.

Possessive: your

You're, it's, and they're have an apostrophe because they join two words. Your, its, and their say who something belongs to.

Possessive adjectives

In real life

When you write, try the long form: if you are fits, use you're; if it does not, use your. The same works for it is / its and they are / their.

Frequently asked questions

Are contractions informal?

They are normal in speech, messages, and emails. Only very formal texts prefer the long form. They are not a mistake.

Can you contract is with a name?

Yes, people say it a lot: My mom's at work. In writing the long form is more common: My mom is at work.

Do you contract in a short answer?

Not in a yes answer: Are you ready? Yes, I am (not Yes, I'm). Short answers are in part 5.

In short

I am becomes I'm; is becomes 's; are becomes 're.
The apostrophe goes where the letter was: she's.
You're means you are; your means belonging to you.
It's means it is; its means belonging to it.

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