's
This contraction stands for:
This contraction stands for:
- is when followed by a predicate: he's a doctor, she's here, who's in the kitchen, there's sugar.
- has when followed by a past participle: he's been there, she's spoken to me about it, who's given money.
Note that this is an extremely common contraction* which is even used in speech when it's not contracted in writing. In other words, when reading aloud, most people will read "He is all I have" as He's all I have because it sounds more natural and makes for a more idiomatic rhythm.
Note that this is an extremely common contraction* which is even used in speech when it's not contracted in writing. In other words, when reading aloud, most people will read "He is all I have" as He's all I have because it sounds more natural and makes for a more idiomatic rhythm.
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*The forms -'s and -s' are also added to nouns to show possession, but we won't treat them here because these are suffixes, not contractions.it's vs its
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Care must be taken to distinguish it's meaning it is or it has from the possessive form its = belonging to it:
It's raining cats and dogs.
It's raining cats and dogs.
It's taken three weeks to paint this.
It's taken three weeks to paint this.
A dog always knows its owner's voice.
A dog always knows its owner's voice.
who's vs whose
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The contraction who's is used for who has and who is, whereas whose is the possessive form of who:
Who's in the house?
Who's in the house?
Who's bought the house?
Who's bought the house?
Whose house is this?
Whose house is this?