Contractions

Use common contractions to enhance the friendly and conversational tone of your content.

Contractions are short forms of multiple words, formed by replacing omitted letters with an apostrophe. The conversational tone of Unity content means that it's okay to use contractions.

In user interfaces (UIs), don't mix contractions and their spelled-out equivalents. For example, don’t use "can’t" and "cannot" in the same UI.

Use contractions only when they increase the readability of your content.

Contractions to use

Use common contractions that most readers, including international English speakers, can understand. Use only the contractions listed in the following sections. Don't use any other contractions in your content.

Contractions with "is" and "are"

Use the following common contractions formed from "is" and "are."

Contraction	Full form	Contraction	F ull form
you're	you are	here's	here is
they're	they are	that's	that is
it's	it is	there's	there is

Contractions with "not"

In your content, use the contracted form of the following negations. Don't use the non-contracted form for emphasis.

Contraction	Full form	Contraction	Full form
aren't	are not	hasn't	has not
can't	cannot	haven't	have not
didn't	did not	isn't	is not
doesn't	does not	wasn't	was not
don't	do not	weren't	were not

note

Don't write "must not" in its contracted form, "mustn't." The contracted form reduces the emphasis of the command.

If "not" follows two words that can be contracted, then contract the first two words and write "not" in full to emphasize the negation. Don't form double contractions.

Incorrect	Correct
it isn't	it's not
there is not	there's not

Contractions to avoid

Avoid contractions that can be ambiguous, that sound unnatural, or that violate other rules in the Unity Style Guide.

Contractions with "have," "has," and "had"

Don't use contractions that shorten the word "have," "has," or "had." These contractions can be ambiguous or can feel unnatural in writing.

note

The contraction "it's" can mean both "it is" (present tense) and "it has" (past tense). To reduce ambiguity in your content, use it's only to mean "it is."

The possessive form "its" isn't a contraction and doesn't use an apostrophe.

Incorrect	Correct
you've	you have
you'd	you had
it's	it has
they've	they have

Contractions with interrogatives

Don't use contractions formed from interrogative words, such as "who," "when," "why," and "how." Instead, write the words out in full.

Incorrect	Correct
who've	who have
what's	what is
where'd	where did
how're	how are

Contractions with future or uncertain tense

Don’t use contractions that violate other aspects of the style guide, such as using future tense, first person, or modal verbs that express uncertainty.

Incorrect	Correct
won't	Rewrite to use present tense.
you'll	Rewrite to use present tense.
couldn't	Rewrite to avoid using "could."
shouldn't	Rewrite to avoid using "should."
wouldn't	Rewrite to avoid using "would."
there'd	Rewrite to avoid using "would." Depending on the situation, you might use the following phrase instead: there can [be]... there might [be]...
let's	Rewrite to remove the first person perspective.

Contractions with nouns and verbs

Don't use contractions formed from a noun and a verb.

Incorrect	Correct
While Unity’s processing,...	While Unity is processing,...
The buttons're grayed out.	The buttons are grayed out.

Ambiguous or informal contractions

Don't use contractions if the reader might misinterpret them, or if they sound overly informal or unnatural. Don't use double contractions.

Incorrect	Correct
there're	there are
'twas	it was
mightn't	might not
mustn't	must not
mightn't've	might not have