Wednesday, December 23, 2015

punctuation - Can a word be contracted twice (e.g. "I'ven't")?



I've seen a contraction of two words. I can't see why it wouldn't've been possible to have been contracted twice. Is it possible and how should it be punctuated?




Update: Ok, to sum up the answers so far




  • This appears in spoken British and American English

  • It is from one of the lower registers of English

  • Even if spoken this way sometimes, it isn't really written as a double contraction, except as written speech in fiction.

  • And from my own googling in Wiktionary, it appears most written forms are old British words, often nautical like fo'c'sle.


Answer



This is not the highest register, but you may hear it in speech. Native speakers tend to slur words together and leave out sounds even if they wouldn't write that way.




Double contractions are not used in writing. They may be grammatically correct, but a professor would not allow you to use them in an essay. Typically, even single contractions are avoided in formal writing.


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