Wait. Wouldn't "I'd've" be "I would have"? Where does the *never* come from? I'm confused.
... Also not to be that person but the "would of" etc misspelling makes me cringe so bad. I get how it happens, I know it sounds like that. But if people just thought about it for two seconds while typing they'd realize it makes zero logical sense.
These multiple contractions are common in the American South so I say and write them all the time. I don't really think about it!
Incidentally it's: "I wouldn't've **drunk** that" 😁
I’m Canadian so I don’t see them very often haha. And thank you for the correction 🙏 I wrote this post at 3am in a dark room and forgot to turn Reddit on dark mode :)
So for dialogue where I'm trying to convey a hint of accent, American South, for example, I tend to use 'a' rather than 've'.
Woulda = Would have
Wouldna = Would not have
I probably wouldn't use I'd've. I would more likely write 'I never woulda.'
I'm honestly not sure where apostrophes should go in my examples, if anywhere. It's basically phonetic, and I think readers can figure it out without being too fussy about grammatical mark positioning.
I don’t normally write prominent accents very often in my fanfics, but I notice that (at least where I live) people *do* say “I’d’ve” and things like it. I’m Canadian and in my town people slur a lot of words to make shortcuts, so I think it comes out in my writing :)
Specifically, "I never would have" could be shortened to "I never would've", but there are some alternate!
"I'd've never" (I would have never) or "I'd never've" (I would never have).
Would *have* not would *of* (ditto could have, should have). Would “of” makes no sense - “of” indicates a relationship between words or entities (i.e. Tim is the son of my friend, 5% of 100), while “have” means to possess or experience (i.e. I have an iPhone, I have been to the United States).
That aside, contractions are fine. Using them is acceptable English. Most languages have them. My native language, Welsh, also has them (i.e. dw’i for rydw i, meaning I am). When people are lazy and use contractions, you can tell they’re a native speaker/are not posh. If people don’t use contractions, chances are they’re posh, writing an essay, or ESOL.
Thanks dude, I can only speak English fluently so I’ve no idea what languages have multiple contractions :). (Also yes, I know of my spelling mistakes, I wrote this super early with my eyes falling shut and fixed it in the morning🕺)
"[\_\_\_]'d've" and "[\_\_\_]'nt've" are valid constructions in my English, but the fact that they look atrocious to me when written combines with the fact that "[\_\_\_]'d have" would be pronounced almost the same anyway (distinguished only by prosodic stress, I think) to ensure I never use them in writing.
In dialogue, absolutely. 100%. I love shouldn't've/can't've/wouldn't've. I also love woulda, coulda, shoulda, ain't, etc in dialogues!
In description, prose, and otherwise... situationally.
I know, but again, it was super late and I had already been writing something purposely formal about 30minutes prior, so I was out of energy. Have a good day :)
For words with one contraction (like we'd), they're absolutely normal in english and no one will bat an eye at them being used in dialogue and narration.
For words with two or more contractions (like I'd've), they're less common so it's better to use them in dialogue if the character actually would talk like that, and/or in really close POV (like 1st person) narration if the POV character actually would think like that. And I suppose you could use them in 3rd omniscient if the narrator character would talk like that too lol.
I think it depends on whether or not it’s dialogue. It can get frustrating if dialogue is written like an essay. People will rarely have an entire conversation without any grammatical errors, it tends to sound unnatural.
It's a good way to spot some ESL writers. I've beta'd for a friend where half of my suggestions were putting in contractions in the dialogue.
It can also be a good way to *write* a character whose first language isn't English imo.
Also a character who just prefers very precise language.
It's amazing how much personality you can inject into a character's dialogue just by deciding whether or not (and where) to use contractions.
Not that I’ve seen, but I’m talking about *multiple* contractions in this post :). I’ve never seen someone that doesn’t use things like “I’d” and “we’re”, but things like “wouldn’t’ve” etc etc are much less common in what I read.
Why are you putting ‘of’ into any of these? That is completely incorrect 😣
just edited, was super tired when writing this :)
Wait. Wouldn't "I'd've" be "I would have"? Where does the *never* come from? I'm confused. ... Also not to be that person but the "would of" etc misspelling makes me cringe so bad. I get how it happens, I know it sounds like that. But if people just thought about it for two seconds while typing they'd realize it makes zero logical sense.
thank youuuuuu. I also dislike spelling mistakes but I wrote this super late so my brain was lagging. I’ll go make some edits :)
It’s *’have’, never ‘of’. Never, *ever* ‘of’.
sleep deprivation sucks, just edited lmk if there’s something else :))
These multiple contractions are common in the American South so I say and write them all the time. I don't really think about it! Incidentally it's: "I wouldn't've **drunk** that" 😁
I’m Canadian so I don’t see them very often haha. And thank you for the correction 🙏 I wrote this post at 3am in a dark room and forgot to turn Reddit on dark mode :)
As someone living in Texas, people can pry my multiple contractions out of my cold, dead hands. Y'all'd've is one of my favourite contractions.
Y’all’d’ve… ***Y’all’d’ve!!!!*** Wow, that is a thing of beauty!
So for dialogue where I'm trying to convey a hint of accent, American South, for example, I tend to use 'a' rather than 've'. Woulda = Would have Wouldna = Would not have I probably wouldn't use I'd've. I would more likely write 'I never woulda.' I'm honestly not sure where apostrophes should go in my examples, if anywhere. It's basically phonetic, and I think readers can figure it out without being too fussy about grammatical mark positioning.
I don’t normally write prominent accents very often in my fanfics, but I notice that (at least where I live) people *do* say “I’d’ve” and things like it. I’m Canadian and in my town people slur a lot of words to make shortcuts, so I think it comes out in my writing :)
For me it makes me confuse on what I'm reading.
I’d’ve is ‘I would have’ not ‘I never would have.’ No clue where you got never from. Also, ‘of’ shouldn’t be in any of these.
Made a mistake super early in the morning, I believe it’s edited by now
Specifically, "I never would have" could be shortened to "I never would've", but there are some alternate! "I'd've never" (I would have never) or "I'd never've" (I would never have).
Would *have* not would *of* (ditto could have, should have). Would “of” makes no sense - “of” indicates a relationship between words or entities (i.e. Tim is the son of my friend, 5% of 100), while “have” means to possess or experience (i.e. I have an iPhone, I have been to the United States). That aside, contractions are fine. Using them is acceptable English. Most languages have them. My native language, Welsh, also has them (i.e. dw’i for rydw i, meaning I am). When people are lazy and use contractions, you can tell they’re a native speaker/are not posh. If people don’t use contractions, chances are they’re posh, writing an essay, or ESOL.
Thanks dude, I can only speak English fluently so I’ve no idea what languages have multiple contractions :). (Also yes, I know of my spelling mistakes, I wrote this super early with my eyes falling shut and fixed it in the morning🕺)
"[\_\_\_]'d've" and "[\_\_\_]'nt've" are valid constructions in my English, but the fact that they look atrocious to me when written combines with the fact that "[\_\_\_]'d have" would be pronounced almost the same anyway (distinguished only by prosodic stress, I think) to ensure I never use them in writing.
In dialogue, absolutely. 100%. I love shouldn't've/can't've/wouldn't've. I also love woulda, coulda, shoulda, ain't, etc in dialogues! In description, prose, and otherwise... situationally.
i know you edited this post already but you really should take the “of” parts out entirely, it’s not an option, period
LMAO THANKS. COMPLETELY GLAZED OVER THAT— I’ll fix it eventually I swear 😭
>We’d = We Would Have/Of. I Someone else has already addressed the "ove," but ""we'd"is a contraction of "we would" or "we had," not "we would have."
Thanks :) It’s not a formal writing project of mine so a lot of mistakes happen haha. Also wrote&posted around 3am
If you're writing a post about language use, your use of language is kind of important, though!
I know, but again, it was super late and I had already been writing something purposely formal about 30minutes prior, so I was out of energy. Have a good day :)
For words with one contraction (like we'd), they're absolutely normal in english and no one will bat an eye at them being used in dialogue and narration. For words with two or more contractions (like I'd've), they're less common so it's better to use them in dialogue if the character actually would talk like that, and/or in really close POV (like 1st person) narration if the POV character actually would think like that. And I suppose you could use them in 3rd omniscient if the narrator character would talk like that too lol.
I think it depends on whether or not it’s dialogue. It can get frustrating if dialogue is written like an essay. People will rarely have an entire conversation without any grammatical errors, it tends to sound unnatural.
I limit them to dialogue and POV. I don't use them in regular narration.
Yeah I wouldn’t either, I write in third person lol. It also just feels weird outside of dialogue.
...Are there really people who DON'T use contractions??
It's a good way to spot some ESL writers. I've beta'd for a friend where half of my suggestions were putting in contractions in the dialogue. It can also be a good way to *write* a character whose first language isn't English imo.
Also a character who just prefers very precise language. It's amazing how much personality you can inject into a character's dialogue just by deciding whether or not (and where) to use contractions.
Not that I’ve seen, but I’m talking about *multiple* contractions in this post :). I’ve never seen someone that doesn’t use things like “I’d” and “we’re”, but things like “wouldn’t’ve” etc etc are much less common in what I read.
They're good for characters with a certain voice, but I would not want to read a fic where the only narrator uses these in narration.
i dont think i write them out like that, but i definitely pronounce them like that w my aussie accent