March 9, 2025
+ 12

Contractions are combinations of at least two words. A contraction is made by omitting one or more letters from one word and adding it to the end of another word.

Many contractions combine a verb and a pronoun.

Do Not Use Negative Contractions

Do not use negative contractions, especially in warning or error messages.

Any verb + not combination should be written out in full.

For example, do not shorten could not to couldn’t.

Do Not Use Informal Contractions

Do not use informal contractions like "wanna" or "gonna".

Do Not Use Complex Contractions

Do not use complex contractions like:

  • could’ve

  • might’ve

  • must’ve

  • should’ve

  • what’ll

  • what’re

  • what’ve

  • we’ve

  • who’d

  • who’ll

  • who’ve

  • would’ve

  • you’ve

Acceptable Contractions

When writing UI copy for Couchbase, you can only use the following contractions:

Contraction Short For…​

I’d*

I had; I would

I’ll*

I will; I shall

I’m*

I am

it’s

it is; it has

let’s*

let us

that’s

that is; that has

there’s

there is; there has

they’d

they had; they would

they’ll

they will; they shall

they’re

they are

we’d*

we had; we would

we’re*

we are

what’s

what is; what has

where’s

where is; where has

who’s

who is; who has

you’d

you had; you would

you’ll

you will; you shall

you’re

you are

*Only use first person under specific circumstances. For more information, see First-Person.