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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Linguistics Studies
Contractions and style
I have some questions about contractions and style in written American English.
Is it usual to write with no contractions at all in American English, or is it very formal? It seems somewhat unusual to me, but I am not a native speaker.
What does it tell the reader about the person who does so, even in casual conversations, for instance in Facebook? Does this style reveal anything about the writer, such as age or education level?
Is it usual to write with no contractions at all in American English, or is it very formal? It seems somewhat unusual to me, but I am not a native speaker.
What does it tell the reader about the person who does so, even in casual conversations, for instance in Facebook? Does this style reveal anything about the writer, such as age or education level?
Top answer
Anonymous Is it usual to write with no contractions at all in American English, or is it very formal? It is very unusual, since American English, especially in everyday conversations, is chock full of contractions. If someone speaks without using any contractions, it sounds robotic and stilted.
- Anonymous Is it usual to write with no contractions at all in American English, or is it very formal?
- It is very unusual, since American English, especially in everyday conversations, is chock full of contractions.
- If someone speaks without using any contractions, it sounds robotic and stilted.
- ) are ubiquitous.
- In EnglishForward, we discourage this usage in posts, but not conventional contractions.
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3 Answers
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AnonymousIs it usual to write with no contractions at all in American English, or is it very formal?It is very unusual, since American English, especially in everyday conversations, is chock full of contractions. If someone speaks without using any contractions, it sounds robotic and stilted. In SMS texting and Internet blogs, acronyms and shortcuts (LOL,
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First, whilst there may be some difference between the contractions used, there is no significant difference between American English and British English usage.
In writing (other than of course when writing speech) the use of contractions almost always indicates an informal style. However, whilst a formal style will avoid contractions, not using contractions does not necessarily mean that
In writing (other than of course when writing speech) the use of contractions almost always indicates an informal style. However, whilst a formal style will avoid contractions, not using contractions does not necessarily mean that
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