English speakers use a lot of contractions when they talk. Some people more than others. When you use contractions in Pennsylvania Dutch you will sound more natural.
What is a contraction?
A contraction is a shorter way of squishing 2 or more words together that are next to each other in a sentence. Most contractions use an apostrophe ( ’ ) to show where letters have been removed.
Examples of English contractions:
| Full English Words | English Contraction |
|---|---|
| I am | I’m |
| I will | I’ll |
| she is | she’s |
| will not | won’t |
| can not | cannot * or can’t |
| of the clock | o’clock |
| are not | aren’t |
| you have | you’ve |
| you all | y’all |
| it is | it’s |
| kind of | kinda * |
| * Not all contractions have an apostrophe. |
This is not a full list of all the contractions in English, but it gives you an idea of what they are.
Contractions in Pennsylvania Dutch
Are there contractions in Pennsylvania Dutch? Absolutely! But you don’t see all of them written out very often since they are used mostly in conversational Deitsh.
| Full Pennsylvania Dutch Words | Pennsylvania Dutch Contraction | English Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ich habb | ich’bb | I have |
| habb ich | havvich | I have (after a time word when word order is switch) |
| eah hott | eah’t | – he has – he had (with another past tense verb) |
| see hott | see’t | – she has – she had (with another past tense verb) |
| si henn | si’nn | – they have – they had (with another past tense verb) |
| sind diah | sin’da | are you all |
| sind diah | sin’diah | are you all (no need to say the extra d) |
| ohvet | oh’t | evening |
| dinohvet | dino’t | this evening |
| geshtrohvet | geshtro’t | yesterday evening / night |
| es | ’s * | – it – the (neuter nouns) – that |
| es is | ’sis | it is |
| so en | so’n | so an |
| in en | inna | in a |
| funn si | funna | – from them – of them |
| siddah es | siddah’s | since (that) since (then) |
| du hosht | du’sht | you have you had (with another past tense verb) |
| * ’s is often used along with another word so it’s not hanging out in the middle of a sentence by itself. |
Again, this is not a complete list of all Pennsylvania Dutch contractions. But it gives you an idea of your options.
You’ll notice that the contraction for it, the (but only with neuter nouns), and that — ’s — appears in sentences alot; even in print.
- Sell’s vi ich’s gnumma habb. (That is how I took it.)
- Velli promises gleichsht du’s besht? (Which of the promises do you like the best?)
💡For practice, the next time you see ’s in a sentence, try to figure out why it’s there and what word it replaces.
Saying Deitsh contractions correctly
Since there are letters that are not said, it’s important to pronounce these contractions correctly so that the meaning is clear.
- For example, oh’t is pronounced like a drawn out version of the English word oat. Imagine drawing out the o sound to make it 2 syllables.
- Listen for contractions in the next conversations you have with a native Deitsh speaker.
- When in doubt, use the contraction in a sentence and ask a native speaker if it sounded okay and made sense.
Using contractions in Deitsh is not a requirement. But it can help your sentences flow out of your mouth a little easier and helps you sound more natural.
Why not pick one contraction and try using it this week. It’ll have fun, and that’s the point. 😀