How to use " 's " as the contraction for " is

hereinchina · Post by **hereinchina** » Tue Oct 05, 2010 11:58 am

Hello,
What is the grammar rule for using 's as the contraction for "is" ? Can you use it after any noun or pronoun? Can you only use it after nouns and pronouns? For example:
1. Mike's a nice guy.
2. Red's my favorite color.
3. My right hand's bigger than my left one.
Can you use it after other kinds of words? I know that usually nouns are the only words that come before "is," but on the occasions when another type of word is used, can you still use the contraction? For example:
1. Here's where I live.
2. There's my old house.

fluffyhamster · Post by **fluffyhamster** » Tue Oct 05, 2010 6:07 pm

All of your examples seem fine to me!

I'll take a look in my grammars at contractions generally though - I recall there being a fair bit of data in e.g. the LGSWE - and get back to you if I find anything super-interesting.

azamouri · Post by **azamouri** » Tue Oct 05, 2010 7:30 pm

I think that 's is used for both, but the 's of nouns refers to possessives and the 's of pronouns refers to contraction of the verb to be (is) or have (has).

Stephen Jones · Post by **Stephen Jones** » Tue Oct 05, 2010 8:08 pm

You can only use it when it's unstressed, which means it isn't at the end of the phrase.

hereinchina · Post by **hereinchina** » Wed Oct 06, 2010 3:14 pm

Hello,
Thank you very much for answering my question.
Best wishes

Teacher Discussion Forums

How to use " 's " as the contraction for " is

How to use " 's " as the contraction for " is

thanks for answering my questions