Eli5 – How would you explain when to use “I’ll” vs “I will” to someone who isn’t a native speaker?

Question

For example why does it sound unnatural to say “I’ll not use this for profit.”?

In: 0

Answer 1

in addition to all the great answers here, don’t use the contraction when the word being lost is the focus of the section.

for example, i have a foreign friend who will respond with: “I’m” in answer to a question. as in: “are you in work today?”, “I’m”. this is wrong, the stressed word in the full sentence is “am”, so contraction is wrong.

also if you want to put particular emphasis on a word, don’t contract. for example, Cinderella might say: “i will go the ball!”. contracting that to “I’ll go to the ball” makes it much more of a normal occasion.

so basically, don’t contract the word away if there’s focus or stress on the word.