I have to admit I have no idea if this contraction is wrong or acceptable.
It *sounds* wrong to me, but how should I know? The answer to this is also
something just impossible to find with google:

"The rest of it is not difficult." -> "The rest of it's not difficult."

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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Warp wrote:

> "The rest of it is not difficult." -> "The rest of it's not difficult."

I often hear native speakers say this.

[You can debate whether this makes it "correct" or not. I also know at 
least 4 grown adults who pronounce "vinegar" is "fikinah".]

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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Warp wrote:
> "The rest of it is not difficult." -> "The rest of it's not difficult."

I think that's probably how I'd say it out loud, but I'd probably write
   The rest of it isn't difficult.

I'm thinking it's because "itsnot" kind of rolls off the tongue better 
than "itisnt". The consonants slide together easier without an extra 
vowel introducing another syllable. "tsn" is smoother than "snt" to 
pronounce.

-- 
Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
  Helpful housekeeping hints:
   Check your feather pillows for holes
    before putting them in the washing machine.

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Warp <war### [at] tagpovrayorg> wrote:
> I have to admit I have no idea if this contraction is wrong or acceptable.
> It *sounds* wrong to me, but how should I know? The answer to this is also
> something just impossible to find with google:
>
> "The rest of it is not difficult." -> "The rest of it's not difficult."
>
> --
>                                                           - Warp

From a purely technical point of view. the words "it is not" can be replaced
with either "it's not" or "it isn't" without generating a grammatical error.

Stylistically, however, the option of "The rest of it isn't difficult" would
generally be considered preferable for the following reason:

The core sentence is: "The rest is not difficult" with "of it" being an
elaborative  modifier.  Since the core sentence would be contracted with
"isn't", this choice is generally considered to be clearer when used in the
elaborated sentence.

In highly formal English, which one would generally be compelled to use only in
a few specific contexts, such as a doctoral dissertation, contractions should
not be used at all.

Best Regards,
Mike C.

P.S.

Other useful hints about English grammar:

A preposition is the wrong thing to end a sentence with.

Remember to not split infinitives.

.... And NEVER begin sentences with conjunctions!

;-)

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On 30 Jun 2008 12:36:59 -0400, Warp <war### [at] tagpovrayorg> wrote:

>  I have to admit I have no idea if this contraction is wrong or acceptable.
>It *sounds* wrong to me, but how should I know? The answer to this is also
>something just impossible to find with google:
>
>"The rest of it is not difficult." -> "The rest of it's not difficult."

I would say the contraction is not correct. I think that the sentence
should be written as: "The rest of it, is not difficult." Where the
comma is used as a pause in the spoken sentence. The word "is" refers
to "the rest" not "it". You could say, "The rest is not difficult" and
keep the meaning. But "it is not difficult" means something else.
You could write "The rest of its not difficult." without the comma,
where its is the possessive form. That doesn't make sense either to me
either, in this context.
-- 

Regards
     Stephen

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On Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:53:36 EDT, "Mike the Elder" <nomail@nomail>
wrote:

>
>Other useful hints about English grammar:
>
>A preposition is the wrong thing to end a sentence with.
>
>Remember to not split infinitives.
>
>.... And NEVER begin sentences with conjunctions!

The old ones are the best :)

Arn't we ;)
-- 

Regards
     Stephen

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Stephen wrote:
> should be written as: "The rest of it, is not difficult." 

Not in American English. Putting a comma there is incorrect, as it's 
separating two halves of one sentence. I understand British English is 
more relaxed about where commas go.

-- 
Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
  Helpful housekeeping hints:
   Check your feather pillows for holes
    before putting them in the washing machine.

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Mike the Elder wrote:
> Other useful hints about English grammar:

All three of these aren't correct.

> A preposition is the wrong thing to end a sentence with.

The actual rule is to not end a sentence with a proposition if the 
sentence means the same thing without the preposition.

Good -> "This is not something I'll put up with."

Bad -> "Where is the library at?"

> Remember to not split infinitives.

This is another of those rules that some random pundit made up that got 
distorted over time. Don't split infinitives with a clause unrelated to 
the verb. Sticking an adverb in there is fine, actually.

> ..... And NEVER begin sentences with conjunctions!

"Pick up the keys. And pick up the newspaper. But don't pick up the cat."

Never have a dependent conjunctive clause stand alone as if it is a 
sentence, is the actual rule.

Good -> "But for Steve's quick thinking, we'd all be in jail."

Bad -> "But not the busdriver."

Unfortunately, there are enough people who only memorize the form of the 
rule without actually understanding the reasons or proper application 
that many people will think you don't know English when you actually 
know it better than they do.

-- 
Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
  Helpful housekeeping hints:
   Check your feather pillows for holes
    before putting them in the washing machine.

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Darren New <dne### [at] sanrrcom> wrote:
> Mike the Elder wrote:
> > Other useful hints about English grammar:

> All three of these aren't correct.

  Btw, wouldn't it be better to say "none of these three are correct"?
As you wrote it, it's a bit ambiguous, as it could mean "at least one
of these is incorrect", giving the possibility that some of them are
correct.

> > ..... And NEVER begin sentences with conjunctions!

> "Pick up the keys. And pick up the newspaper. But don't pick up the cat."

> Never have a dependent conjunctive clause stand alone as if it is a 
> sentence, is the actual rule.

> Good -> "But for Steve's quick thinking, we'd all be in jail."

> Bad -> "But not the busdriver."

  How about sentences where the initial conjunction is redundant? For
example: "And exactly how do you know that?" (The "and" could be removed
without changing the meaning of the sentence in any way.)

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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On Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:36:59 -0400, Warp wrote:

> I have to admit I have no idea if this contraction is wrong or
> acceptable. It *sounds* wrong to me, but how should I know? The answer
> to this is also something just impossible to find with google:
> 
> "The rest of it is not difficult." -> "The rest of it's not difficult."

Perfectly acceptable English, yes.  I've heard both spoken and seen both 
written.

The first is more common, in my experience.

Jim

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