TEMA- Short Forms

Short Forms

UTEQ ENGLISH CLASS

The use of short forms is very common in English, particularly in colloquial English and in informal situations. Verbs in the present tense which have short forms are “to be”, “to have got” and “to have” (when used as an auxiliary verb). There is also a short form for the verb “to do”, but only when it is used as an auxiliary verb and only in the negative.

1. To be

Examples: I’m happy. You’re tall. She’s pretty. It’s 10:00. He’s not here. / He isn’t here. They’re not Spanish. / They aren’t Spanish.

2. To have got

Examples: I’ve got a car. You’ve got blue eyes. He’s got big feet. It’s [the cat] not got a home. / It hasn’t got a home. They’ve not got children. / They haven’t got children.

3. To do

The verb “to do” only has a short form when it is used as an auxiliary verb and only in the negative. Examples: I don’t know. She doesn’t like ice cream. It doesn’t snow here. We don’t have children.

4. In addition to personal pronouns, we can use short forms with interrogative pronouns such as “what” and “where”, as well as the following: “here”, “there”, and “that”. In these cases, the short form only exists in the singular (“is”).

Examples: Where’s the concert? Who’s that? How’s your father? Here’s the book.

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