(1) He picked / picked up a comic (book) from the shelf. -- OK, but they don't mean the same thing. "picked up" means "grasped with the hand and lifted"; "picked" means "chose" or "selected".

No argument with sync. For some reason, I also like in spoken English: I've not yet......(with the contraction). Is that my British heritage sneaking in?

In Spoken English "yet" usually comes at the end of the clause. It can be used after contractions such as don't, hasn't or haven't or before "why and whether" In formal written English it can come after

Using an apostophe (with an "s") would show possession, right? No. Not necessarily. "Apostrophe-S" is used for possession, but also for other reasons. She's going to the movie. "Apostrophe-S" means

I'm a British English speaker. There may be differences here between British and American usage. "I have to " is fine. "I've got to " is also OK, but is more informal (the contraction "I've"

Had better is a solid expression which used to give advice You had better leave now, otherwise we are late on the bus. (If we don't hurry, we will be late). You had better check e-mail or you can miss the job you want. John'd better shut

Well I am being unnecessarily harsh. Both are listed by the OED, with "offen" being listed first. Our pronunciation in Britain has historically preferred contraction, a preference that appears to be waning, possibly due to the effects of

What? Why not? Aside from "not unpleasing", all of these are empirically observable facts. Why should they be invalid? As I understand it, a descriptivist describes a language without making judgements of any kind. I used

Where could I find reliable information about the usage of ... I'm afraid too many may make the letter look unreadable. Of course it is safest to spell everything out. The reader's eye may be relied upon to make the natural contractions.

Where could I find reliable information about the usage of ... if you want to adopt an informal but accurate style? Contractions are entirely readable to native speakers. A few forms are ambiguous in themselves ( 's = was/has/is, 'd = ...