'Twas is a shortened way of saying 'it was'. The apostrophe at the front stands for the missing i of 'it'.

'Twas is a shortened way of saying'twas 是一種簡寫方式，用來說 'it was'「it was」。 The apostrophe at the front前面那個撇號 stands for the missing i of 'it'代表被省掉的「it」裡的那個 i。

Nobody speaks this way now. It belongs to old poetry, old songs, and old writing, mainly from a few hundred years ago, when writers squeezed 'it was' into one beat to make a line of verse fit.

Nobody speaks this way now現在沒有人這樣講話了。 It belongs to old poetry, old songs, and old writing它屬於古詩、老歌和古老的文章， mainly from a few hundred years ago主要來自幾百年前， when writers squeezed 'it was' into one beat to make a line of verse fit當時作者把「it was」壓縮成一個音節，好讓詩句的節拍對上。

Modern readers know it best from the Christmas poem that begins ''Twas the night before Christmas', which is so famous that people copy the pattern as a joke — ''Twas the night before the exam' and so on. So when you meet it today, it is almost always doing one of two jobs: it is genuinely old writing, or it is somebody playing at sounding old and grand.

Modern readers know it best from the Christmas poem that begins現代讀者最熟悉的來源，是那首開頭是 ''Twas the night before Christmas'「'Twas the night before Christmas」（聖誕節前夕）的聖誕詩， which is so famous that people copy the pattern as a joke這首詩太有名了，大家會開玩笑模仿這個句型 — ''Twas the night before the exam'「'Twas the night before the exam」（考試前夕） and so on諸如此類。 So when you meet it today所以你今天遇到它時， it is almost always doing one of two jobs幾乎都是在做這兩件事之一： it is genuinely old writing它真的是古老的文句， or it is somebody playing at sounding old and grand或是有人故意裝出古老、氣派的樣子。

It is properly written with an apostrophe before the t. You will also meet its family: 'tis (it is), 'twere (it were), and 'twill (it will).

It is properly written with an apostrophe before the t正確的寫法是在 t 前面加一個撇號。 You will also meet its family你也會遇到它的同伴： 'tis (it is)「'tis」（it is）， 'twere (it were)「'twere」（it were）， and 'twill (it will)「'twill」（it will）。