A contraction specifically occurs when two words are combined to create a single new word by shortening their forms.
For instance, the word you're may be made shorter by combining the words you and are. Some letters vanish when two words are merged.
Depending on the contraction, you might lose as few as one letter or more.
1. 'Did not' is contracted to 'didn’t'.
For instance:
Jackmas did not play football'
becomes:
'Jake didn’t play football.'
2.Would not is contracted to won't
I would not be able to come
I won't be able to come
3. Had not contracted to hadn’t
She had not eaten anything
She hadn't eaten anything
Common Errors with Contractions
But in order to answer the question "What is a contraction in English?," we must understand how to use them correctly and prevent frequent mistakes.
1. Instead of "could've," say "could of" Children frequently use "of" for "have."
2. The shortened version of the word "it's" is "it is": It is erroneously believed that "its" is synonymous. However, as it is a possessive pronoun, it cannot be substituted.
3. There are three separate meanings for the words "they're," "their," and "there," and the sole contraction for "they're" is "they are."
Conclusion
Contractions are easier to use however avoid using contraction in formal letters. These are generally used in informal conversations.