I’m wondering if in Australian or Canadian English you can use ” ‘ve” before a noun phrase in informal style: I’ve a car. They’ve a great time. The question is somewhat related to this one. The thread there shows that you can say this in British English but not in American English. Yet no one … Read more
Can one shorten, in informal writing, a phrase like “Smith’s is the best among the ones I’ve seen” to “Smith’s’s best among the ones I’ve seen”, using double ’s contraction? I myself doubt it’s possible—I’ve never seen something like this in the wild. That said, it’s non-trivial to look this up online for obvious reasons … Read more
I have a question about future negation using won’t. So, when I have a question that contains two parts connected by and and I want to make it known that those things both will not happen. So for example: It won’t be counted as a typo and cause problems for your registration. Would writing it … Read more
We are working on a paywall page within our app. The app is called Retouch. We were wondering what is the right way to showcase the title of the paywall. Start Use Retouch Start Using Retouch Is there a difference? I’m not an English speaker. Thanks! Answer Start Use Retouch is not grammatical. You need … Read more
It may just be due to where I grew up, but I’m used to hearing phrases such as: Amanda’s out by the palm tree. This would be interpreted as: Amanda is out by the palm tree. However, I’m not so sure this is correct, and I’m having a hard time researching the topic. When I … Read more
I was reading a fantasy novel and I came across this piece of dialogue: Don’t you know what a Conquest Knight is? And the main character replied by nodding his head. But this confused me because the question could be asking if he does know, to which he nods his head, or it could be … Read more
Is there a standard poetic contraction for the word “holiest”? I wish to contract it to two syllables, such that it reads “HOLE-yist”. Should this be spelled “hol’est”? Or even “hol’iest”? Would be very grateful for a reference to a poem where this contraction is used. Answer In his famous hymn "Praise to the Holiest … Read more
Which of the following is the most accepted rule regarding contractions (such as doesn’t, isn’t, …) in academic formal papers? Never use contractions. If you use contractions once in a paper, do the same everywhere else in that paper. Use/avoid contractions wherever you like. Answer Rules accepted by whom? You need to consult a relevant … Read more
I know usen’t isn’t used in everyday English, but how about using it in an exam, an essay, or a formal letter? Is it right to use usen’t instead of didn’t use to? Answer The only use of “usen’t” I’ve ever heard was by W. C. Fields in “Never Give a Sucker an Even Break.” … Read more
Lexico and Imperial College London says that the difference between abbreviations and contractions is that contractions omit letters in the middle and not in the end, hence Dr, for example, is a contraction and not an abbreviation. https://www.lexico.com/grammar/contractions: Contractions are a type of abbreviation in which letters from the middle of the word are omitted. … Read more
