Hello from Bavaria

[rkrueger]

I've got time

Alternativ die eher amerikanische Form "I have time" ohne Verkürzung.
Der Grund ist, dass nur Hilfsverben verkürzt werden. Das Wort "have" in der Bedeutung besitzen ist jedoch ein Vollverb. (In gesprochenem Englisch wird das Vollverb zwar auch verkürzt, die Aussprache unterscheidet sich jedoch vom 've).

Hi tiorthan,

it's not easy with the spoken and the written form. You can do things in colloquial English which are not allowed in written English. What's your suggestion: should I write the sentences with or without abbreviations in the future?

[Keswick (Contributor)]

Hi Keswick,

it could be that I've expressed myself not correctly about the "job". I don't want a regular job for three days. You're right, that's ridiculous. I talked about a place as a volunteer to help an organisation or association in their work or for a celebration or an, whatever. I want to work for free only to meet people. As a guest or friend let's say. It's easier to communicate with other people when you are a member of a group or you are announced. Can you agree with that? It's no job, it's for fun. And when I talk to or with older people in an association about Lower-Saxony. That only for example. My target is to establish contacts in the UK before I arrive there. There is no topic, I'm complete open for ideas.

And about talking to people in pubs or restaurants: that can I do in Hanover too. But a chat in a pub or a restaurant is not comparable to a talk in such situations that I've described before.


Thanks for correcting me.

Ah you mean some sort of event assistance? Yeah that might be an option.

[rkrueger]

B - I - N - G - O

[tiorthan]

What's your suggestion: should I write the sentences with or without contractions in the future?

An abbreviation is something like "Mr" or "DVD".

There is no clear answer to that question, it depends on your target audience. In formal writing most style guides suggest you spell out all words.

In non-formal writing contractions are o.k.
You can always use n't as it has developed into a suffix a long time ago and is no longer a contraction.
You can always use I'm but never contract am if it is not directly preceded by I.
You can always use 's for is. Using it to mean has should work with English people but English speakers from other countries may not readily understand it. If you care to be understood spell out has.
You can always use 've for have as long as it is an auxiliary (Hilfsverb). Never ever use it for have=posess.
You can always use 'll for will or shall.

There are more colloquial contractions as well as some that fell out of use of have changed their meaning over time and thus may appear differently in older texts.