Don't Use Contractions?

Are contractions sloppy? That question came to me today when a writing class participant told me she would never use a contraction. And here's the reason she wouldn't: A teacher had drilled into her head that their use is wrong. In fact, the participant called contractions "sloppy," and a classmate agreed.

I worry about the suggestion that contractions are sloppy. That's because I rarely write a paragraph without one. Since I began this blog post, I have already used four contractions: here's, it's, wouldn't, and that's.

I use contractions to communicate a flowing, easy style. As a writer, I want you, the reader, to feel that I am talking with you and that the words come easily. I do not want to communicate formally with you. (In that sentence I used do not rather than don't for emphasis.)

I decided to consult my reference books for comments on contractions. In most of them, I found support for using contractions to communicate a friendly tone. For example:

• The Gregg Reference Manual: "Contractions of verb phrases are commonly used in business communications where the writer is striving for an easy, colloquial tone. In formal writing, contractions are not used (except for o'clock....)"
• Write Right: A Desktop Digest of Punctuation, Grammar, and Style: "Contractions create a friendly, informal tone that may not be suitable in formal writing."
• The Chicago Manual of Style doesn't comment on the appropriateness of contractions, but it gives many examples of them. It says, for example, that "Don't you want more?" sounds more natural than "Do not you want more?"
• The Associated Press Stylebook: "Contractions reflect informal speech and writing. . . . Avoid excessive use of contractions."

From two books, I learned that contractions challenge people who read English as a foreign language:

• Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications: "Avoid contractions. As basic as contractions are to the native reader, they add unnecessary complexity for the non-native reader. For example, contractions that end in 's can be mistaken for possessive nouns, and the 's can be read as either has or is."
• The Elements of International English Style: A Guide to Writing Correspondence, Reports, Technical Documents, and Internet Pages for a Global Audience: "Avoid abbreviations, contractions, and acronyms" and "Contractions have no place in formal writing."

I live as a writer and writing teacher, and my guiding principle is "Write for the reader."  Because many visitors to this blog read English as a foreign language (EFL), I have decided to use fewer contractions--starting right now. I will continue to communicate with a warm, friendly tone, but I am sure I can find a way to do that without using so many contractions.

Although I had "unchecked" the option of checking for contractions in my Microsoft software, I just rechecked it to help me use fewer contractions. Now my grammar and spelling checker will flag contractions for me. After all, I do not want to seem, as the people in class today suggested, "sloppy." And I want my readers from around the globe to have an easier time understanding what I write.

What do you think about contractions in business writing? Are they friendly, informal, convenient, or just plain sloppy?

Lynn

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Other search spellings; cotnaractions, conractions, buisness, wiritng

Comments

[Matthew]

Having to write many 500 and 1000 word papers for disciplinary actions. I must say the use of contractions can be detrimental to your goal.
However you mentioned something in your post, that I hear very often. "Write for the reader". This statement is very benign at first, but when you think about it's context it becomes more of problem. If I continue to write a more conversational tone and interject more "slang" type language in my writing and speech. I then begin to manage down my communication skills versus managing up. If we continue to manage up with our language, then overall our communication style will increase and have more of even flow.
Besides, I like the mental challenge of trying craft that sentence with "will not, shall not".

[Lynn]

Matthew, thanks for your comment. Please see my post from today, in which I responded to one of your ideas.

I enjoyed your point about the 500- and 1000-word punishments. No wonder people write long pieces!

Lynn

[Srikanth]

Contractions are much more stylish than normal sentences without them. To me, it's about being more stylish. I'm a non-native speaker and a reader but I don't find it difficult at all.

[mara diaz]

I'm very confused with the use of There's....for example "There's a lot of people". "There's people..." I need clarification as to when this contraction is appropriate. Do you base it on the noun or the object of the preposition, as in the first example?

[Elaine Deering]

Mara, Although your comment is several months old, I just came across it now.

The confusion about "there is" vs. "there are" arises because "there" is not the subject of the sentence; the noun or pronoun that immediately follows the verb is. Thus, you would say "There are a lot of people," but "there is my friend." In inverted order, you might say "A lot of people are there," or "My friend is there." The same rule applies to the wor "here": "Here is my friend;" "here are my friends."

I hope this helps.

[Lynn Gaertner-Johnston]

Elaine, thank you for responding to Mara's question, which I missed. The topic is a good one for a blog post.

Lynn

[Auric]

I'm a fanfiction writer and I was recently told that it was wrong to use contractions in narrative (where a character is specifically not speaking in dialogue) when I read over a piece for someone and commented that the lack of contractions made the sentences sound a bit too long and unnatural. Since then, I've been trying to apply this to my own work, and I'm becoming increasingly unhappy because my writing now sounds abnormally stunted. It almost sounds like I've learned the language out of a book, with all its rules, like a foreign language which is not the case. I'm fine with not using contractions if the sentence still flows naturally off the tongue and the page, but is it okay to use them if the sentence looks simply wrong?

[Lynn Gaertner-Johnston]

Hi, Auric. Contractions are slightly informal. Use them if you want to communicate informally or with a breezy tone.

I use them frequently. However, I am careful to avoid using them constantly. When my grammar and spellling checker flags one, I ask myself whether it would sound fine spelled out. If the spelled out version sounds good, I avoid the contraction.

If a spelled out version sounds too formal or awkward, don't use it.

Good luck!
Lynn

[Jamie]

I greatly enjoy the use of contractions and tend to incorporate them into emails and other informal writing. However, I avoid them in research papers and formal reports, and with one exception, I don't use contractions when I write books.

The exception? Sometimes, I want to invite readers to join me in continuing to a new topic of discussion, and when that is the case, the word "let's" is far more fluid and appropriate than writing "let us."

[Ricardo]

Thank you so much for the information. I am a Brazilian English teacher and I was just correcting an essay in which the student DID NOT use contractions at all because her previous teacher told her not to. But it is such an informal topic that I'll recommend her to reconsider using contractions again.

[Lynn Gaertner-Johnston]

Jamie, thanks for your views. I agree with you--and I apologize for not responding promptly.

Lynn

[Lynn Gaertner-Johnston]

Ricardo, I am glad you found the information helpful. Thank you for commenting.

Lynn