Expanding English language contractions in Python

Maarten picture Maarten · Nov 5, 2013 · Viewed 32.7k times · Source

The English language has a couple of contractions. For instance:

you've -> you have
he's -> he is

These can sometimes cause headache when you are doing natural language processing. Is there a Python library, which can expand these contractions?

Answer

arturomp picture arturomp · Nov 5, 2013

I made that wikipedia contraction-to-expansion page into a python dictionary (see below)

Note, as you might expect, that you definitely want to use double quotes when querying the dictionary:

enter image description here

Also, I've left multiple options in as in the wikipedia page. Feel free to modify it as you wish. Note that disambiguation to the right expansion would be a tricky problem!

contractions = { 
"ain't": "am not / are not / is not / has not / have not",
"aren't": "are not / am not",
"can't": "cannot",
"can't've": "cannot have",
"'cause": "because",
"could've": "could have",
"couldn't": "could not",
"couldn't've": "could not have",
"didn't": "did not",
"doesn't": "does not",
"don't": "do not",
"hadn't": "had not",
"hadn't've": "had not have",
"hasn't": "has not",
"haven't": "have not",
"he'd": "he had / he would",
"he'd've": "he would have",
"he'll": "he shall / he will",
"he'll've": "he shall have / he will have",
"he's": "he has / he is",
"how'd": "how did",
"how'd'y": "how do you",
"how'll": "how will",
"how's": "how has / how is / how does",
"I'd": "I had / I would",
"I'd've": "I would have",
"I'll": "I shall / I will",
"I'll've": "I shall have / I will have",
"I'm": "I am",
"I've": "I have",
"isn't": "is not",
"it'd": "it had / it would",
"it'd've": "it would have",
"it'll": "it shall / it will",
"it'll've": "it shall have / it will have",
"it's": "it has / it is",
"let's": "let us",
"ma'am": "madam",
"mayn't": "may not",
"might've": "might have",
"mightn't": "might not",
"mightn't've": "might not have",
"must've": "must have",
"mustn't": "must not",
"mustn't've": "must not have",
"needn't": "need not",
"needn't've": "need not have",
"o'clock": "of the clock",
"oughtn't": "ought not",
"oughtn't've": "ought not have",
"shan't": "shall not",
"sha'n't": "shall not",
"shan't've": "shall not have",
"she'd": "she had / she would",
"she'd've": "she would have",
"she'll": "she shall / she will",
"she'll've": "she shall have / she will have",
"she's": "she has / she is",
"should've": "should have",
"shouldn't": "should not",
"shouldn't've": "should not have",
"so've": "so have",
"so's": "so as / so is",
"that'd": "that would / that had",
"that'd've": "that would have",
"that's": "that has / that is",
"there'd": "there had / there would",
"there'd've": "there would have",
"there's": "there has / there is",
"they'd": "they had / they would",
"they'd've": "they would have",
"they'll": "they shall / they will",
"they'll've": "they shall have / they will have",
"they're": "they are",
"they've": "they have",
"to've": "to have",
"wasn't": "was not",
"we'd": "we had / we would",
"we'd've": "we would have",
"we'll": "we will",
"we'll've": "we will have",
"we're": "we are",
"we've": "we have",
"weren't": "were not",
"what'll": "what shall / what will",
"what'll've": "what shall have / what will have",
"what're": "what are",
"what's": "what has / what is",
"what've": "what have",
"when's": "when has / when is",
"when've": "when have",
"where'd": "where did",
"where's": "where has / where is",
"where've": "where have",
"who'll": "who shall / who will",
"who'll've": "who shall have / who will have",
"who's": "who has / who is",
"who've": "who have",
"why's": "why has / why is",
"why've": "why have",
"will've": "will have",
"won't": "will not",
"won't've": "will not have",
"would've": "would have",
"wouldn't": "would not",
"wouldn't've": "would not have",
"y'all": "you all",
"y'all'd": "you all would",
"y'all'd've": "you all would have",
"y'all're": "you all are",
"y'all've": "you all have",
"you'd": "you had / you would",
"you'd've": "you would have",
"you'll": "you shall / you will",
"you'll've": "you shall have / you will have",
"you're": "you are",
"you've": "you have"
}