Posted by M. Riskiyanto
CONTRACTIONS
(PENYINGKATAN KATA)
“I’m here, You’re really awesome, I’vefinished it, We’re at school, ...” Mungkin kita sering mendengar ataupun menggunakan kata-kata tersebut dalam percakapan sehari-hari ataupun informal writing (tulisan informal, misalnya berkirim pesan, status media sosial, dan lain-lain). Ya! Kata-kata tersebut merupakan hasil dari contractionatau penyingkatan. Pada kesempatan kali ini, kami paparkan penjelasan terkait contraction. Selamat dan semangat belajar!!!
A. Contraction
1. Pengertian Contraction
Contraction merupakan sebuah kata atau frasa yang diperpendek/ diringkas dengan menghilangkan satu atau lebih huruf pada kata tersebut. Contraction atau juga disebut ‘short forms’, adalah bentuk kombinasi antara pronoun (kata ganti) atau noun (kata benda) dengan verb(kata kerja), atau verb dengan ‘not’ dalam bentuk yang lebing ringkas atau singkat. Umumnya, contraction tidak sesuai atau lazim digunakan dalam formal writing (tulisan formal atau akademik, misalnya karya imliah, artikel jurnal, laporan, surat resmi, dan lain-lain).
Kita seringkali menggunakan contraction dalam percakapan sehari-hari. Dengan menggunakan contraction, beberapa orang berharap bahwa mereka dapat menghemat waktu. Selain itu, penggunaan contractions erat kaitannya dengan tone atau nada, baik dalam percakapan ataupun tulisan. Contohnya, kita menggunakan contraction dalam informal writing (pada teks pesan, memo, blog, ataupun personal essays) untuk mempertahankan a colloquial tone (ungkapan yang sesuai untuk percapakan). Sementara itu, menghindari penggunaan contractions formal writing (seperti laporan akademik, artikel ilmial) merupakan sebuah cara untuk mempertahankan a more serious tone (ungkapan/tulisan yang lebih serius). Oleh karena itu, pertimbangkan audience (sasaran) dan purpose for writing (tujuan menulis) ketika akan menggunakan contractions dalam bidang penulisan.
Kita membuat contraction dengan auxiliary verbs (kata kerja bantu, seperti have, has, had, will, atau would, ) dan juga dengan be(seperti is, am, are, was, atau were). Ketika kita membuat contaction kita meletakkan tanda petik satu (apostrophe) sesudah pronoun atau noun (di tempat huruf-huruf auxiliary verbs atau be yang dihilangkan). Berikut contoh contraction yang sering digunakan.
a. Contractions dengan pronoun I, you, he, she, it, we, dan they, yaitu:
| Pronoun + Aux. Verb/ Be | Contraction/ Short Form |
| § Am/ Is/ Are + *3C | § ‘m, ‘s, ‘re + *3C |
| § I + am | § I’m |
| § You + are | § You’re |
| § They + are | § They’re |
| § We + are | § We’re |
| § He + is | § He’s |
| § She + is | § She’s |
| § It + is | § It’s |
| § Have/has + *Verb 3 | § ‘ve, ‘s + *Verb 3 |
| § I + have | § I’ve |
| § You + have | § You’ve |
| § They + have | § They’ve |
| § We + have | § We’ve |
| § He + has | § He’s |
| § She + has | § She’s |
| § It + has | § It’s |
| § Will + *Verb 1 | § ‘ll + *Verb 1 |
| § I + will | § I’ll |
| § You + will | § You’ll |
| § They + will | § They’ll |
| § We + will | § We’ll |
| § He + will | § He’ll |
| § She + will | § She’ll |
| § It + will | § It’ll |
| § Would + *Verb 1 | § ‘d + *Verb 1 |
| § I + would | § I’d |
| § You + would | § You’d |
| § They + would | § They’d |
| § We + would | § We’d |
| § He + would | § He’d |
| § She + would | § She’d |
| § It + would | § It’d |
| § Had + *Verb 3 | § ‘d + *Verb 3 |
| § I + had | § I’d |
| § You + had | § You’d |
| § They + had | § They’d |
| § We + had | § We’d |
| § He + had | § He’d |
| § She + had | § She’d |
| § It + had | § It’d |
Catatan: Untuk membedakan antara penggunaan contraction “is” dengan “has” ataupun “would” dengan “had” perhatikanlah kata yang mengikutinya. Misalnya, “is” diikuti dengan 3 Complement (Adverb, Noun, atau Adjective); “has” dan “had” diikuti dengan Verb 3 (Past Participle); dan “would” diikuti dengan Verb-1 (Base Form of Verb). Past Participle ditandai dengan Verb dengan akhiran “-d/ed”, disebut Regular Verb; namun, ada juga yang tidak berturan (perubahan verb sama dan atau berbeda), disebut Irregular Verb (seperti: do – done, see – seen, put – put, dan lain-lain)contoh:
§ She’s not here. He’s a friendly person. (is)
§ She’s done all the things. She’sfinished. (has + verb 3)
§ I’d like to eat a pizza. She’d prepare the wedding. (would verb 1).
§ You’d submitted to Mr. Elena. I’dwritten it on my book. (had + verb 3).
b. Contractions antara auxiliary verb dengan “not”, yaitu:
| Aux. Verb/ Be + not | Contraction/ Short Form |
| not | n’t |
| § *Am not | § I’m not |
| § Is not | § Isn’t |
| § Are not | § Aren’t |
| § Do not | § Don’t |
| § Does not | § Doesn’t |
| § Was not | § Wasn’t |
| § Were not | § Weren’t |
| § Did not | § Didn’t |
| § Have not | § Haven’t |
| § Has not | § Hasn’t |
| § Had not | § Hadn’t |
| § Will not | § Won’t |
| § Shall not | § Shan’t |
| § Would not | § Wouldn’t |
| § Should not | § Shouldn’t |
| § Can not | § Can’t |
| § Could not | § Couldn’t |
| § Must not | § Musn’t |
| § Might not | § Mightn’t |
2. Contoh Contraction
Contraction dapat terjadi setelah noun (kata benda), names (nama), here (di sini), there (di sana), question ‘what’ (apa) & ‘where’ (dimana), dan now (sekarang). Contraction ini tidak sesuai jika digunakan dalam formal writing. Contoh kalimat dengan contraction.
| Sentence | Sentence with Contraction |
| § My sister has got married | § My sister’s got married |
| § John will be very happy | § John’ll be very happy |
| § Here is the coffee | § Here’s the coffee |
| § There is your watch | § There’s your watch |
| § Now is your chance. | § Now’s your chance. |
| § Where is the milk? | § Where’s the milk? |
| § What has happened? | § What’s happened? |
| § What is the news? | § What’s the news? |
Keterangan:
a. Kita dapat menggunakan contractions dengan be + negative dengan 2 cara, misalnya:
§ “She is not” dikontraksikan menjadi 1) “she isn’t” atau 2) “she’s not”;
§ Bentuk “I am not” hanya dapat dikontraksikan menjadi “I’m not”(bukan: I’m n’t atau I am n’t);
§ “They are not” dikontraksikan menjadi 1) “they aren’t” atau 2) “they’re not”.
*Catatan: Bentuk contractions “isn’t” atau “aren’t” lebih umum digunakan setelah noun (kata benda). Sedangkan bentuk contractions “’snot” atau “’re not” lebih umum digunakan setelah pronoun (kata ganti). Contoh:
§ The cakes aren’t ready yet. (The cakes: noun)
§ She’s not a friend of mine. (She: pronoun)
b. Jangan gunakan lebih dari satu contraction.
Correct: He’s not free.
Incorrect: He’sn’t free.
c. Jangan gunakan bentuk affirmative (positif) contractions di akhir klausa.
A: “I think we’re lost.”
B: Correct: “Yes, I think we are.” Incorrect: “I think we’re”
d. Namun, kita menggunakan negative contractions di akhir klausa dan juga biasanya digunakan dalam tag questions.
A: “You’ve contacted Jan, haven’t you?”
B: “No, I haven’t.”
e. Dalam bentuk tag question, am not digantikan dengan contraction “aren’t”
A: “I’m getting a pay rise, aren’t I?” Bukan: amn’t I?
3. Daftar Contraction Lainnya
Banyak sekali contraction yang digunakan selain contraction “noun atau pronoun” dengan “be atau auxiliary verb”. bahkan ada beberapa frasa yang dikontraksikan. Berikut daftar contraction yang sering digunakan dalam percakapan sehari-hari.
| Contraction | Meaning |
| 'aight | alright |
| am not / is not / are not / has not / have not / did not (colloquial)[1] | |
| am not[2] | |
| aren't | are not[3] |
| can't | cannot |
| 'cause | because |
| could've | could have |
| couldn't | could not |
| couldn't've | could not have |
| daren't | dare not / dared not |
| daresn't | dare not |
| dasn't | dare not |
| didn't | did not |
| doesn't | does not |
| don't | do not / does not[4] |
| dunno | don't know / do not know |
| d'ye | do you / did you |
| e'er | ever |
| 'em | them |
| everybody's | everybody is |
| everyone's | everyone is |
| finna | fixing to / going to (colloquial) |
| g'day | good day |
| gimme | give me |
| giv'n | given |
| gonna | going to |
| gon't | go not (colloquial) |
| gotta | got to |
| hadn't | had not |
| had've | had have |
| hasn't | has not |
| haven't | have not |
| he'd | he had / he would |
| he'll | he shall / he will |
| he's | he has / he is |
| he've | he have |
| how'd | how did / how would |
| howdy | how do you do / how do you fare |
| how'll | how will |
| how're | how are |
| how's | how has / how is / how does |
| I'd | I had / I would |
| I'd've | I would have |
| I'll | I shall / I will |
| I'm | I am |
| I'm'a | I am about to |
| I'm'o | I am going to |
| innit | is it not |
| I've | I have |
| isn't | is not |
| it'd | it would |
| it'll | it shall / it will |
| it's | it has / it is |
| iunno | I don't know |
| let's | let us |
| ma'am | madam |
| mayn't | may not |
| may've | may have |
| methinks | me thinks |
| mightn't | might not |
| might've | might have |
| mustn't | must not |
| mustn't've | must not have |
| must've | must have |
| needn't | need not |
| nal | and all |
| ne'er | never |
| o'clock | of the clock |
| o'er | over |
| ol' | old |
| oughtn't | ought not |
| 's | is, has, does, or us |
| shalln't | shall not (archaic) |
| shan't | shall not |
| she'd | she had / she would |
| she'll | she shall / she will |
| she's | she has / she is |
| should've | should have |
| shouldn't | should not |
| shouldn't've | should not have |
| somebody's | somebody has / somebody is |
| someone's | someone has / someone is |
| something's | something has / something is |
| so're | so are (colloquial) |
| that'll | that shall / that will |
| that're | that are |
| that's | that has / that is |
| that'd | that would / that had |
| there'd | there had / there would |
| there'll | there shall / there will |
| there're | there are |
| there's | there has / there is |
| these're | these are |
| these've | these have |
| they'd | they had / they would |
| they'll | they shall / they will |
| they're | they are / they were |
| they've | they have |
| this's | this has / this is |
| those're | those are |
| those've | those have |
| 'tis | it is |
| to've | to have |
| 'twas | it was |
| wanna | want to |
| wasn't | was not |
| we'd | we had / we would/ we did |
| we'd've | we would have |
| we'll | we shall / we will |
| we're | we are |
| we've | we have |
| weren't | were not |
| what'd | what did |
| what'll | what shall / what will |
| what're | what are/what were |
| what's | what has / what is / what does |
| what've | what have |
| when's | when has / when is |
| where'd | where did |
| where'll | where shall / where will |
| where're | where are |
| where's | where has / where is / where does |
| where've | where have |
| which'd | which had / which would |
| which'll | which shall / which will |
| which're | which are |
| which's | which has / which is |
| which've | which have |
| who'd | who would / who had / who did |
| who'd've | who would have |
| who'll | who shall / who will |
| who're | who are |
| who's | who has / who is / who does |
| who've | who have |
| why'd | why did |
| why're | why are |
| why's | why has / why is / why does |
| willn't | will not (archaic) |
| won't | will not |
| wonnot | will not (archaic) |
| would've | would have |
| wouldn't | would not |
| wouldn't've | would not have |
| you all (colloquial/Southern American English) | |
| y'all'd've | you all would have (colloquial/Southern American English) |
| y'all'd'n've | you all would not have (colloquial/Southern American English) |
| y'all're | you all are (colloquial/Southern American English) |
| you'd | you had / you would |
| you'll | you shall / you will |
| you're | you are |
| you've | you have |
| noun's | noun is (possessive forms of many nouns are homographic to this contraction) |
| noun(s)'re | noun(s) are |
See also:
1. Modal Auxiliary Verb
2. Kinds of Tenses
References:
- https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/contractionsaccessed on 9th November 2020
- https://www.thoughtco.com/contractions-commonly-used-informal-english-1692651 accessed on 9th November 2020
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_English_contractionsaccessed on 9th November 2020
Demikian tadi sekilas Penjelasan terkait “Contraction” dalam bahasa Inggris. Semoga bermanfaat dan dapat menambah wawasan baru bagi kita dalam mempelajari bahasa Inggris. Terima kasih...
