Do those of you in the US use "don't", "won't" etc

[SteveHopwood]

Hi guys

This one I address to my friends in the US, out of pure curiosity.

Here in the UK, when talking we shorten terms such as "do not" into "don't"; "will not" into "won't"; "can not" into "can't".

At the same time, as children we are told by our teachers not to use the shortened forms in written communications. Although I do sometimes use shortened forms, to this day I find that the longer form looks better when reading it.

This came up during a piano lesson with a 15 year old on Sunday. Subsequently, I received a pm from one of our US members, in which the longer forms were always used. I realised that I do not often, if ever, see written stuff from US members who use the shortened versions.

So, guys in the US, do you ever use the shortened versions either in speech or in written communications?

[gaheitman]

Hi guys

This one I address to my friends in the US, out of pure curiosity.

Here in the UK, when talking we shorten terms such as "do not" into "don't"; "will not" into "won't"; "can not" into "can't".

At the same time, as children we are told by our teachers not to use the shortened forms in written communications. Although I do sometimes use shortened forms, to this day I find that the longer form looks better when reading it.

This came up during a piano lesson with a 15 year old on Sunday. Subsequently, I received a pm from one of our US members, in which the longer forms were always used. I realised that I do not often, if ever, see written stuff from US members who use the shortened versions.

So, guys in the US, do you ever use the shortened versions either in speech or in written communications?

Yes, we use them all the time, certainly in speech. Some phrases sound weird without the contraction: "Let's go out and play." vs "Let us go out and play."

I believe the official line is that we are not supposed to use them in formal writing, but since our shared dictionary now includes LOL and OMG, I figure we can do whateverthehell we want.

My son's spelling words this week are all the contractions. Nice timing!

George

[garyfritz]

Contractions like don't / can't / won't / let's are definitely common usage in spoken communications. They are also quite commonly used in written, but a bit less so than in spoken. I often find myself writing the longer form, then I read back through it and say "that sounds a bit formal / stilted" and I convert some of them to contractions.