Contractions
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 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 had; I would |
|
I will; I shall |
|
I am |
|
it’s |
it is; it has |
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 had; we would |
|
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.