Long forms, contracted forms (short forms) of auxiliaries

1. to be (am, are, is)

Affirmative Negative
Long form Contracted form Long form Contracted form
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
you are you're you are not you're not
you aren't
they are they're they are not they're not
they aren't

2. to be (was, were)

  Affirmative Negative
Pronoun Long form Contracted form Long form Contracted form
I, he, she, it I was --- I was not I wasn't
we, you, they we were --- we were not you weren't

3. have (got)

  Affirmative Negative
Pronoun Long form Contracted form Long form Contracted form
I, we, you, they I have got I've got we have not got we haven't got
we've not got*
he, she, it she has got she's got she has not got she hasn't got
she's not got*

* This form is rarely used.

4. had (got)

  Affirmative Negative
Pronoun Long form Contracted form Long form Contracted form
I, he, she, it, we, you, they I had got I'd got we had not got we hadn't got
we'd not got*

* This form is rarely used.

5. do

  Affirmative Negative
Pronoun Long form Contracted form Long form Contracted form
I, we, you, they I do --- we do not we don't
he, she, it she does --- she does not she doesn't

6. did

  Affirmative Negative
Pronoun Long form Contracted form Long form Contracted form
I, he, she, it, we, you, they we did --- we did not we didn't

7. Modals (can, could, must, might, will, would, shall, should, ought to)

Affirmative Negative
Long form Contracted form Long form Contracted form
can - cannot can't
could - could not couldn't
must - must not mustn't
might - might not --
need - need not needn't
will 'll will not won't
would 'd would not wouldn't
shall - shall not shan't
should 'd should not shouldn't
ought to - ought not to oughtn't to

The short/contracted forms 's and 'd have have two different long forms:

  • he's = he is or he has
  • he'd = he would or he had

We seldom use short/contracted forms after names and nouns.

  • Peter has got a book. = Peter's got a book.
  • The children have visited London. = The children've visited London.

If have is a full verb, we do not use the short form.

  • They have breakfast at 6 o'clock.