Does "It's" = It is, It has and It was?

Does “It’s” can stand for it was? Some people said Yes and some said No.

2009-12-09 09:12
Sorry I am in Australia now. I cannot write down the Chinese. Hope you can know what I said."It was " doesn’t have a short stands. “It’s” only stands for “It is”.Thanks for answering your question.

2009-11-26 09:55
My teacher told me that “it’s” also can stand for “it was” i can’t understand her. is she wrong?

1 Like

I think she might be wrong. “It’s” stands for “It is” and “It has”. “It was” doesn’t have a short form.

1 Like

Thx~~ Amalie : )

1 Like

It can stand for all of them. This can lead to confusion. Because it’s best to eliminate possibly unclear language – especially in business and official communications, it’s best to use negative contractions (isn’t, wasn’t, hasn’t, don’t, etc) instead of pronomial contractions (I’ve, he’s, we’d, etc).

Sometimes the meaning of the contraction is clear (as in my use of it’s above). Inthose situations, it’s ok to use the pronomial contraction.

1 Like

IT’S usually stands for it is and it has. Sometimes do we use it for it was. We often use it’s for all when we don’t know which tense we should use while doing assignments. But many teachers only accept it has and it is for IT’S.

1 Like

Hi,

‘It’s’ can be a shortened form of ‘It was’? Hang on! It was in 1945 that the war ended, wasn’t it? Now you wouldn’t say 'isn’t it, would you?

Alan

1 Like

I agree Alan that it’s not standard, but I have seen it many times.

My point was primarily that when you have the option between a form that could be interpreted in more than one possible way (and thus be confusing) and a form which can only have one meaning, that it’s best to choose the form with only a single meaning (thus avoiding the potential for confusion).

1 Like

why did you give such an example? I didn’t see any relation with IT WAS for IT’S.

1 Like

Pronomial contractions (contractions with a pronoun) are formed by using the full pronoun and the last letter or letters of either an aspectual auxiliary (do/does/did, have/has/had, or am/is/are/was/were) or a modal verb (shall, will, should, would). Because the endings of more than one auxiliary or modal can be the same, this creates the potential for confusion.

For instance, is you’ll (you shall or you will), with I’d is it (I had, I did, or I would)? Examples of these contractions being used for all of these forms can be found in large numbers.

With the sentence “He’s eaten,” is it a perfected simple aspect sentence in the active voice (he has eaten), or is it a non-perfected simple aspect sentence in the passive voice (He is eaten (by a lion perhaps?))? Both are possible (although the first is more likely).


At least in the US, business, professional, scientific, and legal writing generally prohibit use of pronomial contractions for this reason. To avoid confusion, contractions tend to be discouraged overall, but if they are to be used, negative contractions (contractions with a verb and n’t) are preferred because they can have only one meaning. Haven’t always = have not; won’t always = will not; isn’t always = is not.


To go back to your question, while it’s = it was is not a very usual contraction, there is no rule that precludes it. Someone could say “It’s raining” (It is raining) or “It’s raining yesterday” (It was raining). What 's stands for is left open to interpretation by the reader or listener.

1 Like

Hi,

If someone says: It’s raining yesterday, I’m afraid I’d call for the men in white coats!

Alan

2 Likes

it’s raining yesterday? Call for the men in white coats? I dont understand anything. Men in white coats are ghosts? Why did you say so mr. Alan?

1 Like

He means that you’d be considered crazy (the traditional uniform for workers at mental hospitals are white coats).

I agree Alan, and the first time I heard that usage I was definitely scratching my head. Unfortunately I’ve heard it from Americans, Scots, Englishmen, and Irish speakers as well. I don’t like it, but it is definitely one of the possible forms that it’s could be.

1 Like

Oh you mean he called YOU crazy? But i still dont understand the comparison between the example he gave and the full forms of IT’S. It was in 1945 that the war ended, wasn’t it?

1 Like

I know this thread has been dormant for a long time, but I came searching for an example of actual usage of “it’s” being used to mean “it was.” I didn’t find one here, but I can’t just leave without addressing your confusion. (It’s the teacher in me. :blush:)

I think Alan was trying to say that in the sentence he gave (“It was in 1945 that the war ended, wasn’t it?”), it would not be appropriate to replace “it was” with “it’s.”

I agree that the resulting sentence (“It’s in 1945 that the war ended, wasn’t it?”) would not make sense because the tense of the verb in Clause 1 (“It’s”) doesn’t match the tenses of the verbs in the following clauses (“ended” and “was”). English is very strict about stating time.

2 Likes

Just to add to your comment - ‘English is very strict about stating time’ - I don’t think that English is any fussier about time than most languages. These reduplicated phrases maintain the same tense and contrast negative with positive.

4 Likes