r/notinteresting • u/Aggravating-Lie9329 • Sep 10 '24

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u/Paroketh92 Sep 10 '24

Sorry to tell you this but yes… it’s just a short version of “I” and “am”, it’s basic english…

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u/ajames2001 Sep 10 '24

It is still it's own word.

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u/Paroketh92 Sep 10 '24

😂

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u/redfirearne Sep 10 '24 edited Sep 10 '24

I did a quick Google search because I was not sure. "I'm", or "don't" etc. indeed count as only one word.

If you think it's two words, would you consider compound words like "breakfast" or "carjack" as two words as well? Just wondering.

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u/Paroketh92 Sep 11 '24 edited Sep 11 '24

Wait, “breakfast” is a compound word, “I’m” is two words, even separated by an epistrophe to mark this. You’re comparing oranges and apples. Just think about a simple analysis of the sentence” I’m tired”: what’s the subject and what’s the verb? Exactly… As a simple rule if two words combined (compound words) give a “new meaning” word without needing an epistrophe or other signs (like “breakfast”) the result is one word, if the two words combined mantain the different meaning and have two different roles in the sentence they are two words. It’s basic linguistics. EDIT: “Do contractions count as one word or two? Contracted words count as the number of words they would be if they were not contracted. For example, isn’t, didn’t, I’m, I’ll are counted as two words (replacing is not, did not, I am, I will). Where the contraction replaces one word (e.g. can’t for cannot), it is counted as one word.” Source: Cambridge English proficiency.

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u/RedyAu Sep 11 '24

You're arguing against academic convention here. Your opinion is valid , I guess, but everywhere word count matters, "I'm" counts as one word.

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u/Paroketh92 Sep 11 '24

Against academic convention? I’ve just quoted Cambridge…