Expanding English language contractions in Python

Question

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 1

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:

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" }