Hey guys! One of the best things you can do to sound more like a native English
speaker is to use contractions when you're speaking. Contractions are when
two or more words join together and get shortened. We do this all the time when
we speak in English, simply because contractions are easier
to say and let us speak smoother and faster. It's really important that you're
able to understand and use contractions, so in this video I'm gonna show you five
easy and frequently used contractions that can help you in your spoken English.
The first one is hafta hafta. So what do you think this means? Well it's a
contraction of have to. Have to is quite difficult to say when you're trying to
speak quickly, so we make it easier for ourselves by changing it to hafta. Repeat
after me hafta. Let's do a sentence, I have to leave now because I have to use
the toilet. You have to study English every day. so guys just to let you know
these contractions are only used in spoken English. Don't use them in written
English because they are inappropriate for written English, but for spoken
English it's totally fine. Okay the next one is
dunno dunno this one is super common and you probably already know it dunno
means don't know. Basically the /t/ sound at the end of don't gets dropped
because when you're speaking quickly the /t/ is a little bit difficult to say
and then 'don' in don't becomes /dun/ so put it together dunno dunno. Let's take a
look at some sentences. I don't know where I am. There are too many movies on
Netflix I don't know which one to watch.
Kinda. Kinda means kind of. You've probably noticed that 'of' like in kind of
quite often just becomes /uh/ and joins with the previous words. This happens in
many many examples in this one it is kinda kinda. For example, I'm kinda tired
I should probably go to bed. What kinda movies do you like? Yeah he's kinda cool
The next one is lemme, lemme. what do you think this means? Well this one is a
contraction of let me again look here the /t/ sound at the end of let gets
dropped and it just becomes lemme. lemme is much easier to say that let me isn't it?
So let's do a couple sentences. So maybe you're in a very busy subway
station or somewhere very busy and you want to get to the front or you just
want to get through a crowd you can say this, Excuse me can you let me through
please? Excuse me can you let me through please?
Or maybe you're a teacher like I am and when you give your homework to your
students you say this. Let me know if you have any questions. Let me know if you
have any questions. Okay the last one for this video is
wanna wanna this one is another very well known
contraction and it just means want to. look again the /t/ sound at the end of
want gets dropped and it becomes wanna wanna. For example I wanna go to brazil.
We wanna eat a big chocolate cake for dessert. Kkay here's a quick grammar tip
for wanna you can use it with the subject "I" I wanna you
"you" wanna "we" we wanna "they" they wanna. They are fine they are correct but you
cannot use wanna with "he/she" or a name so you can't say, he wanna or she wanna
or Luke wana. That is incorrect. Okay that's it form me today. Try to use these
contractions and next time you speak in English and I'm sure you'll sound much
more natural. Okay see you next time!