Contractions – How to Use Apostrophe s to Shorten ‘Is’

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For example, I'd say:

The interview's on Monday.

Is that grammatically acceptable?

Best Answer

Yes, the contraction 's for "is" (and also for "has") is very common, particularly in speech and informal contexts; it may be considered bad style in a formal written context. For instance, using it in a conversational email would probably be considered acceptable, but in an essay or letter of complaint the full form would probably be expected.

That applies particularly to using it with:

  • Nouns, like your example, or "the weather's awful today"
  • Names, like "John's on holiday at the moment"

Even in relatively formal contexts, e.g. a newspaper article, it is common to use it with:

  • Pronouns, like "he's rich", "it's raining"
  • Other determiners, like "that's right", "what's on TV"
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