'd

See also Appendix:Variations of "d"

English

Etymology

• Contraction of (ha)d.
• Contraction of (woul)d

Verb

’d

1. had (marking the pluperfect tense)
2. (some dialects) Had, possessed.
   • Polly Von - She’d her apron wrapped about her and he took her for a swan
3. would
   • I’d like to help, but I have no time.
4. (colloquial) Did.
   • Hey, where’d everybody go? Why’d they take off?

Related terms

• ’s (third person)
• ’ve

Usage notes

• In most dialects, -’d is only used to mark the pluperfect tense (“I’d done something.”, “I had done something.”), and not to signify possession in the past (“I had something.”). Some dialects, however, use -’d for both.

Suffix

'd

1. (archaic) traditional English past tense indicator, largely replaced by -ed.
   • Shakespeare - Hath thou mark’d the dawn of next?
2. Used to form the past tense of some verbs that are in the form of numerals, letters, and abbreviations, especially in online communication. Compare ’s.
   • Google Plus - You +1’d this.
   • I just lol’d but then stopped and realized this wasn’t funny.