Grammar Girl here, today's topic is Trouble Some Contractions.

Guest writer Bonnie Tringer writes, this episode's about contractions.

Or would it be better to say this episode is about contractions?

While we're in the neighborhood, we'll talk about some other potentially problematic

contractions.

What's the fate of Idov with two apostrophes in one contraction?

Or there are, a mouthful of an abbreviation for there are, first we'll talk about contractions

that involve the word is.

You've probably learned from previous episodes that a contraction is the combination of two

or sometimes more words into one and that you'll use an apostrophe to represent the missing

letter or letters.

Run of the male contractions you'll encounter in everyday reading or speaking include

I'm, for I am, she'll, for she will, and a clock for of the clock.

Most contractions pose no problem, but contractions that involve the word is can cause confusion

and ambiguity.

You'll encounter a problematic is contraction when you're contracting it with a noun.

Take for example the contraction of the words the dancer and is, which becomes the dancers.

If you said the dancers flushed, meaning the dancer exerted herself and her face became

red, someone listening to you instead of reading might think you meant that some dancers

flushed a commode.

It would be easy to think that the contraction was a plural noun.

In this case, it would be better to spell things out, the dancer is flushed.

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