Jose Carillo's English Forum

Joe Carillo's Desk => You Asked Me This Question => Topic started by: Joe Carillo on October 05, 2017, 06:28:03 PM

Title: Are contracted words considered a single word or not?
Post by: Joe Carillo on October 05, 2017, 06:28:03 PM

Question posted by Lia Leigh on the Forum's Facebook Gateway (October 4, 2017):

Sir, good morning! I have a question: If two words were contracted (such as "is not" - isn't, "are not" - aren't), do we consider the contracted form as a single word or not? I wish to be enlightened.

My reply to Lia Leigh:

Hi,Lia! From the standpoint of a simple word count, say for a composition or essay to stay within a required word limit, contracted words like "isn't" for "is not" and "aren't" for "are not" are considered single words. A contracted word is just one word if it has spaces or other punctuation around it, in the same way as hyphenated words like "three-step" and "pitter-patter" and compound words like "catcall" and overwhelming."

Rejoinder from Lia Leigh:

Thank you, Sir! I am so enlightened!