Quote:
Originally Posted by John Carroll
I have a few European friends who have told me that it's hard for them to read all of the different contractions used in American writing, such as "Would've" and "They'd".
As I edit my works, I find it interesting that I tend to write very formal. I almost always type out "do not" instead of "don't". I don't know why I do this, but can't seem to break the habit. It's fine as I clean it up in the edits. One of my proofreaders remarked upon it in the first book.
I just wonder if making contractions is hard for readers who read English as a second language. If so, are there any inparticular that make it difficult?
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It depends what your target audience is. If you're writing dialogue in fiction, then naturally you'd use contractions. If you're writing a technical report, then you would use fewer of them. Many contractions, however, are a completely standard part of the language; it would be unusual to write "you are" instead of "you're", for example.
I notice, by the way, that even though you say that you generally avoid the word "don't", you've actually used it in the above post.
You say that you write "very formal". I think you meant "formally". Adverb (qualifying the verb "write") not adjective.