You will hear "I'm happy" much more than "I am happy" because in English we use short forms very frequently. In this lesson you will learn how to use these short forms.
The use of short forms is very common in English, particularly in colloquial English and in informal situations.
Verbs in the present tense which have short forms are “to be”, “to have got” and “to have” (when used as an auxiliary verb). There is also a short form for the verb “to do”, but only when it is used as an auxiliary verb and only in the negative.
1. To be
| Afirmativo | Forma corta | Negativo | Forma corta |
|---|---|---|---|
| I am | I’m | I am not | I’m not |
| you are | you’re | you are not | you’re not you aren’t |
| he is | he’s | he is not | he’s not he isn’t |
| she is | she’s | she is not | she’s not she isn’t |
| it is | it’s | it is not | it’s not it isn’t |
| we are | we’re | we are not | we’re not we aren’t |
| they are | they’re | they are not | they’re not they aren’t |
Examples:
| I’m happy. |
| You’re tall. |
| She’s pretty. |
| It’s 10:00. |
| He’s not here. / He isn’t here. |
| They’re not Spanish. / They aren’t Spanish. |
2. To have got
| Affirmative | Short form | Negative | Short form |
|---|---|---|---|
| I have got | I’ve got | I have not got | I’ve not got I haven’t got |
| you have got | you’ve got | you have not got | you’ve not got you haven’t got |
| he has got | he’s got | he has not got | he’s not got he hasn’t |
| she has got | she’s got | she has not got | she’s not got she hasn’t got |
| it has got | it’s got | it has not got | it’s not got it hasn’t got |
| we have got | we’ve got | we have not got | we’ve not got we haven’t got |
| they have got | they’ve got | they have not got | they’ve not got they haven’t got |
Examples:
| I’ve got a car. |
| You’ve got blue eyes. |
| He’s got big feet. |
| It’s [the cat] not got a home. / It hasn’t got a home. |
| They’ve not got children. / They haven’t got children. |
When “to have” is the principal verb, we cannot say:
When “to have” is the principal verb, we cannot say:
3. To do
The verb “to do” only has a short form when it is used as an auxiliary verb and only in the negative.
| Negative | Short Form |
|---|---|
| I do not | I don’t |
| you do not | you don’t |
| he does not | he doesn’t |
| she does not | she doesn’t |
| it does not | it doesn’t |
| we do not | we don’t |
| they do not | they don’t |
Examples:
| I don’t know. |
| She doesn’t like ice cream. |
| It doesn’t snow here. |
| We don’t have children. |
Note: For more information on the use of “to do” as an auxiliary verb, see the lessons on verbs, constructing sentences and the present simple.
Note: For more information on the use of “to do” as an auxiliary verb, see the lessons on verbs, constructing sentences and the present simple.
4. In addition to personal pronouns, we can use short forms with interrogative pronouns such as “what” and “where”, as well as the following: “here”, “there”, and “that”. In these cases, the short form only exists in the singular (“is”).
Examples:
| Where’s the concert? |
| Who’s that? |
| How’s your father? |
| Here’s the book. |
| That’s mine. |
| Long Form | Short Form |
|---|---|
| What is | What’s |
| Who is | Who’s |
| When is | When’s |
| Where is | Where’s |
| How is | How’s |
| Here is | Here’s |
| There is | There’s |
| That is | That’s |
Note: There are more short forms in other verb tenses which we will see in later lessons.
