How to Use Contractions in College Essays? 8 Writing Tips with Examples

When you start writing your college essay, you need to consider various things, like structure, language, tone, grammar, and the use of contractions. The use of contractions in college essays is one of the most crucial aspects, as this will set the entire tone of the essay.  

The contractions are words or phrases that become shortened by omitting one of two letters. They are also known as “short forms” and are generally used in informal speech to save time and space. However, the usage of these short forms in a college essay is a little bit tricky, and most students ask, “Can I use contractions in my college essay?” Do you also want to get answers to this question? This piece of writing is for you.

In this blog, we shall discuss whether it is bad to use contractions in a college essay or not. If not, how can you use these words in your essay? Furthermore, you may ask for help from online essay writers of The Academic Papers UK for seamless use of contraction words in your papers. 

Now, let’s start with the topic of discussion.

What is the Rule for Contractions in Writing?

Contractions are the short forms of two or more existing words. These short forms create new words that save time in both speech and writing. Sometimes, these words comprise a single word (e.g. kinda), but most of the time, they are created with two or more words ( e.g. is not = isn’t).  

Generally, the rule for using contractions in writing depends on the type. There are three types of contraction including:

1. Positive Contraction

Positive contraction is a composition of different words that do not end with “-n’t”. Furthermore, these contractions cannot be used at the end of the sentence. 

Example: 

“He would join us” can be written as “He’d join us”.

2. Negative Contraction

A negative contraction comprises a negative verb and always ends with “-n’t”. Moreover, when you use negative contraction in an interrogative sentence, then the verb not is moved to the start of the sentence with the auxiliary verb. 

Example: 

“Are they not coming?” is wrong. “Aren’t they coming?” is the correct way to write. 

3. Nonstandard Contraction

Some nonstandard contractions are categorised depending on the region and dialect. In general, these short forms are uncommon, and it is suggested that they be avoided in writing. 

Example: 

Y’all are going to the museum. (y’all =  you all)

Jack ain’t a doctor. (ain’t = is/are/am not)

Can You Use Contractions in College Essays?

Have you started writing your college essay for admission? Then you would probably be thinking, " Should I use contractions in a college essay? The answer is ‘Yes’; you can use contraction words in your college essay. The main purpose of a college essay is to showcase your personality and deliver your unique voice to the admission officer. Therefore, it is important to write in a natural tone that helps the admission committee to evaluate your personality. 

Contraction words are greatly significant in making your essay natural and maintaining a conversational tone. However, you need to be careful when using these words, as overuse can make your essay informal and can badly impact your admission process. 

As you have learned, should you use contractions in college essays? Now, it is time to explore some key tips for using these short forms in your essay. Let’s start. 

8 Tips to Use Contractions in College Essays

It is important to use contracting words wisely; otherwise, they can make our essay confusing and distracting. So, in this section, we are going to share some tips that help you use these words correctly. 

1. Understand the Tone

A college essay is neither a formal academic document nor an informal blog. So, when you write your college essay, ensure that you maintain a balance between conversational and formal tone. In order to attain the natural tone, use contraction words wisely. 

Make your document professional with the right balance of these short words. In addition to this, once you write your essay, read your document aloud and evaluate whether contraction words make sense or give your essay a natural tone. 

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2. Use Contraction Naturally and Correctly

When you write your college essay, ensure that your document doesn’t distract your readers. An absurd shift from formal to informal language can be jarring for your audience, and they may lose interest. To avoid this mistake, use contraction words consistently and naturally in your writing document.

Moreover, you must be careful when you write tagged questions. Tag questions are declarative statements with a question tag that asks if someone agrees with them or not. The declarative part of this question is always positive; however, the tag question can be positive or negative. If the tag question is negative, then use a contraction. This use of negative contractions with tag questions can be impressive for your reader. 

3. Avoid Overuse and Uncommon Forms

The key to using contraction words correctly is to use them in a balanced way. Never use these words excessively in your essay, as they make your document informal. So, always aim for a balanced approach.

Additionally, use those contraction words that match your natural voice. This step will make your document authentic for your reader. Moreover, avoid using uncommon contractions in college essays like amn’t or ain’t. These words are considered slang and are only acceptable in particular regions. Here, we have given a list of some uncommon short forms. 

• Gimme 
• Gonna
•  Gotta
• There’re
• Must’ve
• Hafta

4. Don’t Mix them with Possessives

Apostrophes are also used for possessive nouns. Never mix possessive nouns with contraction words just because of the apostrophe. Understand the difference between these two terms with a simple example.

The hospital recruited professional nurses to help doctors.

The hospital’s nurses help doctors.

Have you seen the difference? In the first example, the hospital recruited, while in the second, the hospital's nurses helped. 

Possessives are like possessive nouns, but possessive pronouns can also be confused with contractions in college essays. But it is easy to distinguish between these two terms as possessive pronouns have no apostrophe. 

So, when you see a possessive pronoun with an apostrophe, it is a contracted word. For instance, “it’s = it is” is a contraction word, while “its” is a possessive pronoun. 

5. Avoid Contractions to Emphasise a Point

Never use contraction words when you try to emphasise a point. A combination of contraction words with stress on verbs makes your document weak. For instance,

No, William does not want to be late again.

In this example, the stress is on the not verb. So, if you use contraction for not, then this will weaken this sentence, and the reader may be confused about which part the author wants to highlight. 

6. Consider Your Audience

Considering your audience is one of the most important things when you write your college essay. Undoubtedly, contraction words can make your writing document more readable and conversational. However, keep in mind for whom you are writing this document: definitely for the admission committee. So, when you use contraction words, ensure that your writing document meets the expectations of academic writing. 

These short forms are greatly helpful in conveying personal experiences and feelings. But remember, this expression doesn’t overshadow your intellectual viewpoint and academic skills. 

7. Avoid Double Contraction

Double contraction is acceptable in speech, but it should not be used in writing an essay. For instance, the double contraction “I’d’ve = I would have” probably would leave a bad impact on the admission officer as this contraction makes your document too casual.

This type of contraction is technically acceptable in conversation, but it must be avoided in all types of writing documents. Students are generally aware of this restriction, and they use double contractions in their essays to make them more natural. Eventually, this will lead them to lose a seat in a renowned institute. 

8. Get Feedback from Professionals

Once you write your college essay, it is better to send this draft to your teacher, trusted fellow, or mentor to review it. They can provide you with valuable insight into whether you used the contractions words in the right way or not. 

Further, their review helps you to make your essay more natural and grab your readers' attention. Also, it can polish your essay and boost your chances of getting admission to your dream educational institute. Furthermore, you can get assistance from the professional team of essay writers of The Academic Papers UK. Our PhD-qualified writers know how to craft an excellent college essay while maintaining a natural and professional tone. 

Dos and Don’ts For Using Contraction in a College Essay

In the previous section, you have explored tips on using contractions correctly in college essays. Now, you have a better understanding of how to use these short forms. Here, we have enlisted all dos and don’ts for the correct use of contraction words. Let’s explore what they are. 

Dos

• Make your essay natural and conversational.
• Use a coherent tone throughout your essay.
• Add contractions in college essays to express your personality.
• Utilise short forms of words to enhance readability. 

Don’ts

• Avoid overuse of contraction words.
• Never use uncommon contractions in your essay
• Don’t make your document so casual that it loses professionalism.
• Don’t make your document vague due to the unnecessary use of short forms.

Are Contractions Good for Essays?

The most common question is, “Are contractions allowed in college essays?” Generally, contraction words should be avoided in formal academic writing, such as journals, articles, or class essays, because they can disturb the formal and academic tone. 

However, contraction is allowed in college essays where the administration wants to judge applicants' personalities. But always remember one thing: this contraction does not harm the professionalism of your document. 

Contractions in College Essays Examples

Every student thinks that he can write as he talks. That’s not true. Academic writing is more formal, and you have to follow the predefined requirements. So, when writing a college essay, one of the prime concerns of students is “Are contractions bad in college essays”? The answer is ‘No’. You can use these short forms in your document to make it natural and genuine. 

Below, we are going to mention some examples of contractions that you can use in your college essay. 

Conclusion

Contraction words are the mash-up of two or more words that are significantly helpful in saving time and space. These words are not allowed in professional academic writing. However, it is acceptable in college essays. Contractions in college essays are a great tool to maintain the nature and genuine tone of the document. But you must use these short forms with care and consideration. Besides this, you can also ask expert writers at The Academic Papers UK to 'write my college essay', and they will respond immediately.

You must avoid overuse and uncommon contractions that make you document and leave a bad impression on the admission committee. Furthermore, use these words naturally and correctly to give a natural tone to your writing document. With this, don't mix contraction with possessive nouns or pronouns. These tips will certainly help you in writing a winning essay. 

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