Grammar Guidance: Top 4 Reasons to Use Contractions

Take a creative copywriting course, and one of the first things they'll do is encourage you to use contractions in your marketing copy. Contractions refer to a passive verb phrase where the verb of being drops one or more letters and the omitted letters are replaced by an apostrophe.

For instance: it's for "it is," you're for "you are," he's for "he is," she's for "she is," we're for "we are," couldn't for "could not," shouldn't for "should not," would've for "would have," I'll for "I will" and, well, you get the idea.

I find it somewhat challenging to help my copywriting clients understand that this is the better way to go if you want to leave a favorable impression with your reader.

Below you'll find my top reasons to choose contractions over the long form of the verb phrase in your website or marketing copy.

1. We all use contractions in our everyday speech.

For example, "It is nice to see you," will flow much more nicely when you switch to "It's nice to see you."

2. Young people who have yet to master good composition skills tend to avoid using contractions.

Example: "Bill and Jill could not figure out where their dog Lad ran off to. 'Look, Bill, look! He is right over there,' said Jill."

Much better: "Bill and Jill couldn't figure out where their dog Lad ran off to. 'Look, Bill, look! He's right over there,' said Jill."

3. People for whom English is a second language tend to shy away from contractions because they don't feel confident in their mastery of the language yet.

Example: "It has been a long day. I am tired. I would like a cup of hot tea, and then I am off to bed." (Can't you just imagine that being said in a thick accent of some kind?)

Much better:  "It's been a long day. I'm tired. I'd like a cup of hot tea, and then I'm off to bed."

4. This is marketing, not legal copy.

If you were writing something formal such as legal copy or a science journal, I'd advise you to skip the contractions and choose the long form of these verbs. But marketing is conversational, and normal people DO shorten their verbs when talking with each other (I do believe I said this already but it's worth repeating).

I get the feeling after working with certain clients, that I'll never change their minds no matter how much I argue for "natural language" in their copywriting. So I just bend to their wishes and separate the contractions. But inside my head I'm thinking, Oh, GOD, this could sound so much better!

Someday, my copywriting friends. Someday.

Get a custom copywriting and marketing quote for your business website or marketing collateral today: email dina@wordfeeder.com

Comments

[Kelly King]

I had this exact conversation with a client this morning! It was on a short piece of copy we've been scrutinizing for weeks, and low and behold, I lost the contraction battle.

[Dina]

Kelly! You have my condolences. Thanks for stopping by.