A contraction missing its apostrophe

This list excludes especially ambiguous forms such as “ill” and “well.” Confirm the intended meaning before applying the punctuation.

Convention: An apostrophe marks the omitted side.

What this check detects

English contractions written without their apostrophe. English 'scribes only.

• arent → becomes aren't

• cant → becomes can't

• couldnt → becomes couldn't

• didnt → becomes didn't

• doesnt → becomes doesn't

• dont → becomes don't

• hasnt → becomes hasn't

• havent → becomes haven't

• im → becomes I'm

• isnt → becomes isn't

• ive → becomes I've

• shouldnt → becomes shouldn't

• thats → becomes that's

• theyre → becomes they're

• wasnt → becomes wasn't

• werent → becomes weren't

• whats → becomes what's

• wont → becomes won't

• wouldnt → becomes wouldn't

• youre → becomes you're

Example

[Verse]
Dont go

In the workbench this reads: “Dont” looks like a contraction missing an apostrophe.

[Verse]
Don't go

The fix

In the workbench this finding carries one control, labelled Replace with Don't. The change is contextual, so it is previewed as a diff in your document first and applies only when you confirm it.

The convention and its limits

This check detects the pattern shown above. An accepted example passes this check; it is not a review of the whole transcription.

Source

The source cited by this check:

Contraction apostrophes (opens in a new tab) verified 2026-08-12 Write apostrophes in clear contractions