Can we contract plural nouns with present perfect?
In either in writing or speech, can we contract plural noun with the present perfect? For example, can we say or write:
The children've eaten.
Solution 1:
Yes, absolutely. You run the risk in writing of seeming informal, so it isn't ideal for academic work, etc., but if you're looking to strike a tone of brisk-but-earnest, it works well in speaking. Then again, it's a dialectical variation in most forms of English: it's incredibly common in the Southeast, for example, but maybe not in other areas.