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📘 You already say I'm

You sit at breakfast. Toast is in your hand. You say I'm hungry. You do not say I am hungry unless a grown-up is being extra careful with the words. That squeeze is how English talks. Two words, I and am, slide into one mouthful: I'm. Engla

4
lessons
~20 min
to learn
Adults
level
Start the course →

What you’ll learn

  1. Two words hide in oneHear that a contraction is two spoken words squeezed into one written word, and meet Year 1's three examples: I'm, I'll, we'll.You already say I'm. Print keeps the squeeze with a flying comma. The grown-up name is contraction. Two words, one mouthful.
  2. The hole is the missing letterPoint to the apostrophe as the chair where an omitted letter sat, and place it correctly in I'm, don't, I'll and can't.Year 1: the apostrophe represents the omitted letter(s). Sussex: it sits precisely where the letters were. Can't, not ca'nt. The typewriter has to strike the chair on purpose.
  3. The families you already sayGroup common contractions by the leftover family — be, will, not — and tell it's (it is) from its (belonging).I'm and she's are be. I'll and we'll are will. Don't and won't are not. Won't is the odd cousin for will not. Appendix 1: it's is never the possessive.
  4. Read it, then hear the two wordsRead a contraction by finding the chair, naming the gone letter, saying the two words, then saying the short form, and notice a possessive apostrophe is a different job.Year 1 is reading, not writing. Four moves through one short word. The girl's book is whose, not a gone letter. O'clock hides of. Tonight hunt one hole in a picture book.

Questions this course answers

England's Year 1 word-reading list says the apostrophe in I'm, I'll and we'll represents what?

The statutory Year 1 line is exact: read words with contractions, and understand that the apostrophe represents the omitted letter(s). Omitted means left out.

Match each short word to the two words hiding inside

Year 1 names I'm, I'll and we'll. LibreTexts and Purdue OWL add don't (do not) and it's (it is or it has). The short word is the two words with a hole.

Put the four Year 1 moves through a contraction in the order this course used

Year 1 is a reading job: see the mark, know it stands for omitted letters, hear the two words, then say the short form the way talk already does.

The Year 1 statutory sentence, in the course's words.

Year 1: the apostrophe represents the omitted letter(s). Appendix 1 says the same: the apostrophe shows where a letter or letters would be if the words were written in full.

How many example contractions does England's Year 1 word-reading list name in square brackets?

The statutory examples are three: I'm, I'll, we'll. They are not the only contractions in English. They are the three Year 1 starts you on.

In your own words, why does I'm have a flying comma in the middle?

LibreTexts: in a contraction, an apostrophe shows where one or more letters have been left out. I'm is I plus am. The a left. The chair stayed.

Grounded in trusted sources

  • Department for Education (England), National curriculum in England: English programmes of study — Year 1 Reading, word reading: read words with contractions [for example, I'm, I'll, we'll], and understand that the apostrophe represents the omitted letter(s), https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-english-programmes-of-study/national-curriculum-in-england-english-programmes-of-study
  • Department for Education (England), English Appendix 1: Spelling — Year 2 Contractions: the apostrophe shows where a letter or letters would be if the words were written in full (e.g. can't – cannot); it's means it is or sometimes it has, but it's is never used for the possessive; example words can't, didn't, hasn't, couldn't, it's, I'll. Year 2 also: learning to spell more words with contracted forms; learning the possessive apostrophe (singular) [for example, the girl's book], https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7ccc06ed915d63cc65ce61/English_Appendix_1_-_Spelling.pdf
  • Common Core State Standards Initiative, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.2.2.c — Use an apostrophe to form contractions and frequently occurring possessives (Grade 2 writing, after Year 1 reading); CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.1.3.g — Recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words, https://www.thecorestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/L/2/ and https://www.thecorestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/RF/1/
  • LibreTexts / Anna Mills, How Arguments Work, §13.18 Apostrophes — a contraction is a word formed by combining two words; an apostrophe shows where one or more letters have been left out; don't = do not; commonly used contractions including I'm, I'll, it's, she's, won't; it's versus its test, https://human.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Composition/Advanced_Composition/How_Arguments_Work_-_A_Guide_to_Writing_and_Analyzing_Texts_in_College_(Mills)/13%3A_Correcting_Grammar_and_Punctuation/13.18%3A_Apostrophes
  • Larry Trask, University of Sussex Guide to Punctuation — Contractions: the apostrophe is used in writing contractions, shortened forms from which one or more letters have been omitted; the apostrophe appears precisely in the position of the omitted letters (can't, not ca'nt); won't = will not; o'clock = of the clock; I'll/ill, we're/were, she'll/shell collisions, https://www.sussex.ac.uk/informatics/punctuation/apostrophe/contractions
  • Purdue OWL, Apostrophe Introduction — apostrophes show the omission of letters; a contraction is a word in which one or more letters have been omitted; examples don't = do not, I'm = I am, he'll = he will; it's versus its; possessives are a different job, https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/punctuation/apostrophe_introduction.html
  • Department for Education (England), The reading framework — systematic phonics and word reading from Reception; Year 1 programme of study as the statutory word-reading list that includes contractions, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-reading-framework-teaching-the-foundations-of-literacy

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