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Abbreviations, Acronyms and Contractions
Abbreviations and acronyms are shortened forms of words or phrases. An abbreviation
is typically a shortened form of words used to represent the whole (such as Dr. or Prof.)
while an acronym contains a set of initial letters from a phrase that usually form another
word (such as radar or scuba).
Abbreviations and acronyms are often interchanged, yet the two are quite distinct.
The main point of reference is that abbreviations are merely a series of letters while
acronyms form new words.
We use contractions (I’m, we’re) in everyday speech and informal writing.
Contractions, which are sometimes called ‘short forms’, commonly combine a pronoun or
noun and a verb, or a verb and not, in a shorter form.
Contractions with I, you, he, she, it, we, and they
’m = am (I’m)
’re = are (you’re, we’re, they’re)
’s = is and has (he’s, she’s, it’s)
’ve = have (’ve, you’ve, we’ve, they’ve)
’ll = will (I’ll, you’ll, he’ll, she’ll, it’ll, we’ll, they’ll)
’d = had and would (I’d, you’d, he’d, she’d, it’d, we’d, they’d)
Contractions with auxiliary verb and not
The contraction for not is n’t:
aren’t = are not (we aren’t, you aren’t)
can’t = cannot
couldn’t = could not
didn’t = did not (I didn’t, they didn’t)
C. Pick out the contractions from the lesson and expand them.
Contractions Expansions
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ACRONYM
Acronym is a type of abbreviation
where a new word is formed from
ABBREVIATION
the first letters of a series of words
Abbreviation refers to any
shortened or contracted form of a
ACRONYM
word or phrase
Pronounced as a separate word
ABBREVIATION
Some abbreviations are not
ACRONYM pronounced as new words
All acronyms are abbreviations
ABBREVIATION
But not every abbreviation is an
acronym
We can abbreviate the following:
Titles before names: Names of a Few Objects:
Mr. = Mister (for men) (plural - Misters) VCR = Videocassette Recorder
Mrs. = Mistress (for women) CD = Compact Disc
Prof. = Professor (plural - Profs.) DVD = Digital Video/Versatile Disk
St. = Saint (plural - Sts.) GPS = Global Positioning System
Rev. = Reverend (plural - Revs.) VR = Virtual reality
Hon. = Honourable (plural - Hons.)
AR = Augmented Reality
Jr. = Junior
TV = Television
Pres. = President
Words used with numbers: Common Latin terms:
a.m. = ante meridiem (before noon) etc. = et cetera (and so forth)
p.m. = post meridiem (after noon) i.e. = id est(that is)
A.D. = anno domini e.g. = exempligratia (for example)
B.C.E. = before common era et al. = et alii (and others)
C.E. = common era vs. = versus
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5. Terms of mathematical units: 2. Names of Familiar Institutions:
ft = feet CBI = Central Bureau of Investigation
ft² = square feet IB = Intelligence Bureau
kg = kilogram IMF = International Monetary Fund
km = kilometre UN = United Nations
mm = millimetre EC = Election Commission
ml = millilitre EU = European Union
°F = degrees Fahrenheit IIT = Indian Institute of Technology
°C = degrees Celsius
3. Names of Countries: 6. Long, common phrases
USA = United Stated of America IQ = Intelligence Quotient
UK = United Kingdom mph = miles per hour
UAE = United Arab Emirates mpg = miles per gallon
D. Expand the following abbreviations or acronyms
SIM ISRO WHO CCTV HDMI LASER MRI CRY RAM ROM CPU ALU
E. C omplete the sentences with the correct abbreviations or acronyms from the given
list.
a.m. etc. BCE e.g HD m IQ GPS p.m. vs
1. My dad wakes up very early in the morning because he has to be at work at 6.00 a.m .
2. Socrates, the famous Classical Greek Athenian philosopher, died in 399 BCE .
3. Leonardo Da Vinci was a famous Italian polymath, a painter, a sculptor, an architect, a
musician, a scientist etc. .
4. I usually return home from work at 10.30 p.m .
5. John downloaded a clip from YouTube in HD quality.
6. There are many irregular verbs in the English language, e.g break, do, make.
7. I’m watching a great football match, Barcelona vs Real Madrid.
8. Humans who dive without protection can survive 300 m under water.
9. A 11-year-old girl just beat Einstein on an IQ test.
10. We used the GPS facility to track the location.
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