Rule for contraction of is/isn't

[rkdemay]

A: Is Maria at work today?
B: No, she isn't. (Equally correct: No, she is not.)

A: Is Maria at work today?
B:*Yes, she's. (Correct: Yes, she is.)

Why can we contract she is not, but cannot contract she is, in the sentences above? One argument is the prosodic requirement that a de-stressed or reduced element needs to be followed by a stressed element, but this isn't a satisfying explanation for the teacher or the learner.

What is the grammatical rule in play here?

Thanks very much,

 

[bhaisahab]

A: Is Maria at work today?
B: No, she isn't. (Equally correct: No, she is not.)

A: Is Maria at work today?
B:*Yes, she's. (Correct: Yes, she is.)

Why can we contract she is not, but cannot contract she is, in the sentences above? One argument is the prosodic requirement that a de-stressed or reduced element needs to be followed by a stressed element, but this isn't a satisfying explanation for the teacher or the learner.

What is the grammatical rule in play here?

Thanks very much,

Contractions imitate speech patterns. We say "she isn't", for example, we don't say "she's" at the end of a sentence.

 

[TheParser]

A: Is Maria at work today?
B: No, she isn't. (Equally correct: No, she is not.)

A: Is Maria at work today?
B:*Yes, she's. (Correct: Yes, she is.)

Why can we contract she is not, but cannot contract she is, in the sentences above? One argument is the prosodic requirement that a de-stressed or reduced element needs to be followed by a stressed element, but this isn't a satisfying explanation for the teacher or the learner.

What is the grammatical rule in play here?

Thanks very much,

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

Good afternoon.

(1) I agree that the rule about destressed/stressed is too complicated for ordinary people like me.

(2) I think we can simply say: English speakers will not accept a sentence that ENDS with a contracted form of "BE" or any auxiliary.

(a) Yes, she's. The sentence ends with " 's ," a contraction of BE. Not acceptable.

(b) No, she isn't. The sentence ends with " n't ," a contraction of "not." ""Not" is an adverb. The sentence does not end with " 's," so the sentence is OK.

(c) Has she eaten? Yes, she's. The sentence ends with 's -- contraction of auxiliary verb "has" (has eaten). Not acceptable.

(d) No, she hasn't. The sentence ends with n't -- contraction of the adverb "not." No problem.

(3) Thanks for your question. It's important for learners to know this. If a learner answers, for example, "Yes, I'm," some rude native speakers will laugh.

Have a nice day!