One way to help you sound like a native speaker of English is to pronounce words in the way that natives do. Three examples of native pronunciation are gonna, wanna and gotta. But what do they mean and how can you use them?
- Gonna is a contraction of going to, so you can use it when using be going to
Example: I’m gonna go out tonight. = I’m going to go out tonight
You can use it with all persons – first, second and third person, singular and plural – and the stress is on the first syllable: gonna.
- Wanna is a contraction of want to. You can use it with all persons, except third person singular because third person singular -s just gets in the way!
Examples: I wanna eat a biscuit. = I want to eat a biscuit.
They wanna buy some new clothes. = They want to buy some new clothes.
but NOT: He wanna go swimming.
For wanna, the stress is also on the first syllable.
- Gotta is a contraction of got to. You can use it instead of got to or have got to / has got to and it works for all persons.
Examples: You’ve gotta do it! / You gotta do it! = You’ve got to do it!
He’s gotta have it! / He gotta have it. = He’s got to have it!
The stress is again on the first syllable: gotta.
You will find gonna, wanna and gotta are most often used in conversational English or in written English when the writer wants to emphasise the pronunciation of the words.
So, wanna sound like a native? Using gonna, wanna and gotta’s gotta do the trick!
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