Contractions with "not"

Learning Objectives Identify the two words that form a contraction with 'not'. Correctly form a contraction by combining a verb with the word 'not'. Explain that an apostrophe takes the place of the missing letter 'o' in 'not'. Use contractions with 'not' correctly in their own sentences. Identify the irregular contraction 'won't' for 'will not'. Read a sentence with a contraction and state the two words it represents. Do you want to learn a secret writer's trick to make your sentences shorter and faster? ✍️ Let's learn how to squish words together! In this lesson, we will learn about special words called contractions. We will focus on how to combine a verb with the word 'not' to...

TermDefinitionExample ContractionA shorter way to say two words by pushing them together and taking out one or more letters.The word 'isn't' is a contraction for 'is not'. ApostropheA small punctuation mark (') that looks like a floating comma. In a contraction, it takes the place of the missing letter(s).In 'don't', the apostrophe takes the place of the letter 'o'. VerbA word that shows action or a state of being.In 'are not', the word 'are' is the verb. NotA word that means 'no' or makes a sentence negative.I do not want broccoli. 'Not' makes the sentence negative. Irregular ContractionA special contraction that doesn't follow the main rule and changes its letters in a unique way.'wi...

The 'O' Swap Rule Verb + not → Verb + n't To make most contractions with 'not', you combine the verb with 'not', then take out the letter 'o' from 'not' and put an apostrophe in its place. The 'Will Not' Exception will + not → won't The words 'will not' are special. They do not become 'willn't'. Instead, they change into the word 'won't'. You just have to remember this one! The 'Cannot' Exception can + not → can't The words 'can not' are also a bit special. When you combine them, you remove one 'n' and the 'o', replacing them with an apostrophe to make 'can't'.