Contractions
Ordinary contractions are fine, and support a natural, readable tone: "it's", "you'll", "we're".
Negative contractions must be spelled out in full, because they're easy to misread at speed:
| Avoid | Use instead |
| can't | cannot |
| don't | do not |
| won't | will not |
| isn't | is not |
Complex or compound contractions must also be spelled out in full:
| Avoid | Use instead |
| should've | should have |
| could've | could have |
| would've | would have |
| they've | they have |
Last reviewed
26-09-2026