Spoken Contractions

Level 5

Some short words join together with an apostrophe, in speech and in print.

How It Works

FullShortMeaning
aquò esaquò'sthat is
qué esqu'eswhat is

The 's is the verb es with its vowel dropped, attached to the word before it. In practice it is used with aquò: Aquò's pas facil. (That is not easy.) The apostrophe is part of the spelling: write aquò's, not aquòs.

Before a vowel, que drops its vowel, as every small word does: qu'es aquò? You know this elision from l'ostal and d'aiga.

Both aquò's and aquò es are common in print, and aquò's turns up more often, so a text may use either one.

Examples (5)

  1. Aquò's bon.

    That is good.

    Aquò's: aquò and es joined.

  2. Qu'es aquò?

    What is that?

    Qu'es: qué and es, with the apostrophe.

  3. Aquò's pas facil.

    That is not easy.

    Pas follows the contracted verb.

  4. Aquò's la vertat.

    That is the truth.

    The contraction before an article.

  5. Qu'es aquò que manjas?

    What is that you are eating?

    Qu'es opens the question.

Common Mistakes

  • Dropping the apostrophe

    Aquòs bon.
    Aquò's bon.

    The apostrophe shows that es lost its vowel, so the spelling is aquò's.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Spoken ContractionsLevel 5

Learn This First

Spoken contractions shorten aquò with an apostrophe, so aquò and the overview of contractions come first.

Words in This Pattern

aquò'squé