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Contractions
We use contractions (I’m, we’re) in everyday speech and informal writing. Contractions, which are sometimes called ‘short forms’, commonly combine a pronoun or noun and a verb, or a verb and not, in
a shorter form. Contractions are usually not appropriate in formal writing. …
Wanna "want to" or "want a" You also do wanna highlight the results, the experiences. / You do short form of "want to" or "want a"
wanna keep your resume to one page. / Do you wanna go now? / I
wanna hamburger, Mom. / I wanna be a rock star./ Wanna come? /
Do you wanna beer? = D'you wanna beer? = D'ya wanna beer? = Ya
wanna beer? = Wanna beer?
Gonna /Imma / I´ma Going to What are you gonna do with it when you grow up? / What are you I´m gonna = Imma
gonna do? / What are you gonna do about it? / Imma swim in the
pool on my vacay = I am going to swim in the pool on my vacation. /
Imma play soccer after school today. Wanna come?
Gotta Have got to I'll talk to ya later, Mick. I gotta go. / I gotta go now./ He's gotta be kidding.
short form of have got to
gimme give me Gimme your money. / Don't gimme that rubbish. / Can you gimme a
hand?
lemme let me Lemme go!
Kinda Kind of I just kinda stay away from all that. It's not part of my life. / I was Kind of and sort of are very common expressions in speaking.
kinda sorry to see him go. / He’s kind of jealous that they have They soften other words and phrases so that they do not appear
become such good friends / I’m sorry but she’s just kind of lost too direct or exact. Kind of is more common in American
interest in buying the car. / They said it was a chalet but it was more English. Sort of is more common in British English: Just kinda =
like a sort of wooden hut. / She’s spent the whole year sort of solo un poco / kind of = más o menos /
travelling around the world. / You know, you want to talk to them a
bit, kinda make 'em feel at home, say goodnight to 'em, and all that.
I shoulda I shouldn’t = should not / Just act like he's kinda with it when she's around.
I coulda I couldn’t = could not
I woulda I wouldn’t = would not
I hadda I had to
I hafta I have to
She hasta She has to
I needa I need to
What-chu doing (or what-cha) What’re you doing---? What-cha doing today? / Whatcha going to do? /
Whatcha gonna do?
How are ya? How are you?
ain't am not/are not/is not I ain't sure. / You ain't my boss. / Things ain't what they used to be. /
He ain't going. /´"Is Terry here?" "No, he ain’t coming in today."
ain't ain't = has not/have not I ain't done it. / She ain't finished yet. / I ain't got no money. / You
ain't seen nothing yet. / if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it = (informal) used to
say that if something works well enough, it should not be changed /
"Can I have a cigarette?" "I ain't got none left." / I ain't done nothing
wrong. / Lend me a fiver - I ain't got no money right now. / I ain't got
no money. / You ain't seen nothing yet.
ya you Who saw ya? / He greeted me with "How ya doin’?" / He said, ‘I got Informal, not standard. Used in writing as a way of showing the
something for ya.’ way people sometimes pronounce the word ‘you’ or ‘your’