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Anonymous Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
Rules for contrations
I was discussing with my brother the rule for "you've". Are you allowed to replace "you have" with "you've" in any situation? ex "Do you have my book?" "Do you've my book?" I know it sounds wrong but...Why? Thanks
Top answer
Generally speaking, we don't shorten (contract) "have" when it is the main verb in a sentence. We usually write a contraction of "have" or "has" only when it is used as an auxilliary verb -- but not when it is the first word in a sentence. " [N] I've never seen a ghost.
- Generally speaking, we don't shorten (contract) "have" when it is the main verb in a sentence.
- We usually write a contraction of "have" or "has" only when it is used as an auxilliary verb -- but not when it is the first word in a sentence.
- " [N] I've never seen a ghost.
- [Y] (have = auxilliary verb, see = main verb) 've you ever seen a ghost?
- [N]
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3 Answers
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Generally speaking, we don't shorten (contract) "have" when it is the main verb in a sentence. We usually write a contraction of "have" or "has" only when it is used as an auxilliary verb -- but not when it is the first word in a sentence.
"Do you have my book?" [Y] (have = main verb)
"Do you've my book?" [N]
I've ne
"Do you have my book?" [Y] (have = main verb)
I've ne
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AnonymousAre you allowed to replace "you have" with "you've" in any situation?No. If the two words are conceptually separated in some way, the contraction is not possible.
For example do you have in a question is the inversion of you do have, where you and have are separated by do, so you can't contract over the gap
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A couple more small things...
Contractions are generally not used in formal written English. Even though there seems to be a trend for traditionally formal communications (say business letters) to be written in a more informal and chatty style, I would still avoid using contractions when, say, writing a formal letter on a serious subject.
Contractions are not used when the contr
Contractions are generally not used in formal written English. Even though there seems to be a trend for traditionally formal communications (say business letters) to be written in a more informal and chatty style, I would still avoid using contractions when, say, writing a formal letter on a serious subject.
Contractions are not used when the contr
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