영어 축약형(Contractions) 완전 정리

영어 회화와 캐주얼한 글에서 가장 많이 쓰이는 게 바로 **축약형(Contractions)**이에요!

축약형을 쓰면 문장이 훨씬 자연스럽고 친근하게 들리거든요.

 

하지만 공식 문서, 학술지, 비즈니스 이메일에서는 거의 쓰지 않는다는 점도 꼭 기억하세요!

1. 기본 규칙

• be동사 / have동사 / 조동사 + not → 축약 가능
• 주로 I, you, he, she, it, we, they와 결합
• 질문문에서도 똑같이 축약해서 씁니다 (예: What's your name?)

2. 가장 많이 쓰는 축약형 표

원문	축약형	예문
am / is / are	I'm, you're, he's, she's, it's, we're, they're	She's my sister. (She is)
are not	aren't	They aren't coming.
is not	isn't	He isn't tired.
am not	ain't (X) → I'm not	I'm not hungry. (ain't는 비표준)
have / has	I've, you've, he's, she's, it's, we've, they've	I've been there.
had / would	I'd, you'd, he'd, she'd, it'd, we'd, they'd	I'd like → I'd like coffee.
will	I'll, you'll, he'll, she'll, it'll, we'll, they'll	She'll call you later.
shall (구어체 드물게)	I'll, we'll
do not	don't	I don't know → I don't know.
does not	doesn't	She doesn't like it.
did not	didn't	We didn't go.
cannot	can't	I can't swim.
could not	couldn't
should not	shouldn't
would not	wouldn't
must not	mustn't (영국식) / don't have to (미국식)
need not	needn't (영국식)

3. 자주 쓰이지만 헷갈리는 축약형 TOP 10

축약형	의미 가능성 2가지	맥락으로 구분
I'd	I had / I would	I'd eaten (had) vs I'd like (would)
He'd	He had / He would	He'd gone vs He'd go
She's	She is / She has	She's beautiful vs She's been here
It's	It is / It has	It's raining vs It's been fun
There's	There is / There has	There's a cat vs There's been
Who's	Who is / Who has	Who's coming? vs Who's eaten?
What's	What is / What has	What's your name? vs What's happened?
Let's	Let us	Let's go!
Won't	Will not	I won't go
Shan't	Shall not (거의 안 씀)

4. 절대 축약하지 않는 경우 (Formal Writing)

• Academic paper, 논문, 공식 보고서
• 비즈니스 이메일 (특히 처음 메일)
• 이력서, 자기소개서, 공식 편지
• 시험 답변 (IELTS, TOEFL Writing 등은 축약형 쓰면 감점 가능성 있음)

→ 이런 경우는 “do not”, “is not”, “I would”처럼 풀어서 씁니다.

5. 미국식 vs 영국식 차이 (보너스)

• Gotten (미) vs Got (영) → I've gotten (미) / I've got (영)
• mustn't (영국에서 더 자주) vs rarely used (미국)
• ain't = am not / is not / are not / has not / have not (비표준, 슬랭)

마무리 팁

• 친구랑 채팅, SNS, 블로그, 유튜브 댓글 → 마음껏 써도 OK!
• “I'mma, kinda, gotta, wanna, gimme” 같은 초강력 축약은 진짜 친한 사이에서만!
• 원어민이랑 대화할 때 축약형을 쓰면 “영어 잘한다” 소리 듣습니다 ㅎㅎ

이 표 하나만 저장해 두면 평생 써먹을 거예요!