'd
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See also: Appendix:Variations of "d"
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Contraction of would or had.
Pronunciation
[edit]Verb
[edit]'d (clitic)
- Contraction of had (as an auxiliary verb).
- He’d done his best, but it hadn't been enough.
- You’d seen it before anyone else had.
- I’d better not.
- 1861, George Eliot, chapter VI, in Silas Marner:
- p’rhaps you didn’t say the cow was a red Durham; and p’rhaps you didn’t say she’d got a star on her brow
- Contraction of had (as a main verb, but not a phrasal verb).
- 1920, Agatha Christie, chapter II, in The Mysterious Affair at Styles:
- “He’s a dear little man,” said Cynthia. “I’d no idea you knew him.”
- 1963 Peter, Paul and Mary, "Polly Von":
- She'd her apron wrapped about her and he took her for a swan.
- 1974, Stanley Middleton, Holiday:
- She’d two advantages over him: she’d more fire and a complete conviction she was in the right.
- Contraction of would, contraction of should.
- Synonym: 'ld
- I’d like to help, but I have no time.
- (colloquial) Contraction of did.
- Why the hell'd you do that?
Usage notes
[edit]- Usually a representation of informal speech.
- Compare -'d.
See also
[edit]Anagrams
[edit]Romagnol
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Preposition
[edit]'d