Have you noticed that when you use informal contractions like "gonna," "wanna," "dunno,"
"hafta," you don't exactly sound like an American?
In fact, using these informal contractions can actually draw more attention to the fact
that you're a non-native speaker and enhance your accent.
In this video, I'll explain why we use informal contractions and share 20 of the most common.
I'll clarify what many other people don't teach you about how to use these informal
contractions more naturally, and teach you what you need to do in the rest of the sentence
so you sound more like a native English speaker.
We'll practice using clear, simple examples that may be things
you would say in your normal life.
Welcome back to the English with Kim YouTube channel where you'll learn what to say, how
to say it, and why it matters.
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Let's get started.
First things first, let's talk about what we mean by informal contractions.
Informal contractions are when we combine two or more high frequency words in order
to make them go more quickly and be easier to say.
Native speakers do this automatically.
We're used to stressing important words and reducing ones that don't matter.
When we use them often, we tend to combine them to move through them a little more quickly
and focus attention on the words that truly matter.
Unlike the most common contractions, where we combine auxiliary or helping verbs with
negatives, or combine auxiliary verbs with pronouns,
informal contractions are completely optional.
We call them informal contractions because you're more likely to hear them in relaxed
speech when you're hanging out with your friends or you're speaking in a more informal setting.
When I listen to my own speech, I notice that sometimes I use these contractions,
and sometimes I don't.
It really depends on what I'm saying and the way I want to focus attention on my words.
That said, when I do use informal contractions, I don't think about it.
It happens naturally.
As you continue to evolve as a non-native English speaker, this may start happening for you.
The challenge comes when people start including informal contractions in their speech when
they're not actually using stress throughout the rest of their sentence.
When certain words, phrases or expressions are high frequency, we often link them together
and reduce sounds or even drop sounds entirely.
When you hear informal contractions like "gonna," "wanna," and "dunno," you're going to still
hear that one of the sounds inside this contraction is stressed, but the rest of the sounds are
de-emphasized in order to focus attention away from the words that don't matter.
The problem is that a lot of people learn informal contractions without any context.
Informal contractions are fun to practice.
They're fun to say.
They're fun to understand.
They help you decode the speech of native English speakers.
Unfortunately, when you use informal contractions without correctly stressing the rest of the
sentence, it draws extra attention to words that should actually be de-emphasized.
When we use informal contractions, we're trying to make these words a little less obvious
and focus attention on the rest of the sentence.
If you're not distinguishing between the words that truly matter and the words that don't
matter, using one of these informal contractions can sound a little odd or out of place.
It can even sound a little bit forced.
On the other hand, if you are correctly stressing the rest of your sentence and then introducing
these informal contractions, it will help you sound more like a native English speaker.
As you continue to reduce your accent and work on how you sound when speaking English,
you can start including these informal contractions.
But it's much more efficient and much more effective to start with word and sentence
stress first and then build to including these informal contractions and other ways that
we link words together.
So let's talk about these informal contractions and how to use them while still correctly
stressing the rest of the sentence.
Let's start with the informal contraction I use the most: gonna.
"Gonna" is a contraction of the words "going to."
Because "go" is stressed, we are reducing "-ing" and "to."
In fast speech, it becomes "gonna."
Let's look at an example sentence that includes the word "gonna."
Take a moment and identify which words should be stressed in this sentence.
Remember, in order for these contractions to sound natural, you need to be correctly
stressing the rest of the sentence.
I'm gonna call you later tonight.
Try repeating it after me.
I'm going to call you later tonight.
I'm gonna call you later tonight.
If you overemphasize "gonna," the sentence won't sound natural.
It needs to have the flow that comes from stressing content words
and reducing function words.
Let's look at a few more examples.
Now, let's look at "wanna."
"Wanna" is a contraction of "want to."
Take a look at this example.
Which words do you think should be stressed in this sentence?
Remember, these contractions are generally de-emphasized.
It's really important you stress the content words in the sentence.
Now, let's practice.
I wanna go to the beach this weekend.
Are you starting to create that natural rhythm of English by stressing the words that matter?
Let's try another contraction: dunno.
"Dunno" is the contraction of "don't" and "know."
Take a look at this example.
Which words should be stressed?
I don't know what time the party will end.
Take a moment and repeat after me.
I don't know what time the party will end.
As you can hear, correctly stressing the rest of the sentence helps deemphasize this informal
contraction.
Let's try another one: kinda.
"Kinda" is a contraction of "kind of."
Take a look at this example.
We're kinda tired of all the rain this week.
As you can see, these are the words that should be stressed.
Repeat after me.
We're kinda tired of all the rain this week.
Do you hear how "kinda" shouldn't get extra attention?
It should be stressed equally with the rest of the stressed words in the sentence.
Next, let's look at "gotta."
"Gotta" is a contraction of "got to."
Take a look at this example and think about which words should be stressed.
They've gotta do a lot of work today.
As you can see, these are the words that should be stressed.
They've gotta do a lot of work today.
Let's repeat it one more time.
They've gotta do a lot of work today.
Next, let's look at "lotta."
If you listen carefully, I actually said it in the last example.
"Lotta" is a contraction of "lot of."
A similar contraction is "lotsa," lots of.
Here's another example.
Which words should be stressed?
There are a lotta rules we need to learn.
Here are the stressed words in this sentence.
Did you get them?
There are a lotta rules we need to learn.
There are a lot of rules we need to learn.
Here's an example with "lotsa."
Which words should be stressed?
There are lotsa animals at the zoo.
Did you stress them correctly?
Repeat after me.
There are lotsa animals at the zoo.
I hope you hear how combining these informal contractions with correct stress throughout
the rest of the sentence helps you sound more natural.
Let's move on.
Let's talk about "lemme."
"Lemme" is a contraction for "let me."
Here's an example.
Which words would you stress?
Lemme know if you decide to come to the movies.
I hope you hear how stressing the correct words in this sentence helps give a nice rhythm
to the way that I'm saying that.
Lemme know if you decide to come to the movies.
Now, let's look at "hafta."
"Hafta" is a contraction of "have to."
Take a look at this example and think about which words should be stressed.
I hafta check to see when it starts.
Here are the stressed words.
I hafta check to see when it starts.
I hope you can hear how the up and down between stressed and unstressed words helps create
a natural-sounding rhythm on that sentence.
Next, let's look at "gimme": give me.
Which words would you stress in this sentence?
Gimme a call if you change your mind.
Here's how I would stress the sentence.
Gimme a call if you change your mind.
Are you starting to get the hang of it?
Now let's talk about "tryna": trying to.
Take a look at this example.
Which words would you stress?
I'm tryna speak more clearly.
Here's how you should say the sentence.
I'm tryna to speak more clearly.
I'm trying to speak more clearly.
Next, let's look at "outta": out of.
How would you stress this sentence.
We're almost outta time.
You can really hear in this example that I'm not putting particular emphasis on "out of."
I'm putting emphasis on other words in the sentence.
Repeat after me.
We're almost outta time.
We're almost out of time.
Now let's move on to three of my favorite informal contractions.
"Shoulda" is a contraction of "should have."
Which words would you stress?
You shoulda asked me sooner.
Here's how to stress the sentence.
You shoulda asked me sooner.
Here's a related one: woulda.
"Woulda" is a contraction of "would have."
How would you stress this?
I woulda helped you if you'd asked.
Kind of hard to say, a little bit of a tongue twister.
Here's how I would stress it.
I woulda helped you if you'd asked.
Next, let's look at "coulda," which is a contraction of "could have."
How would you stress this?
He coulda told us a few days ago.
Here's how to stress this sentence.
He coulda told us a few days ago.
Something to note is that some people may say would've, could've, and should've.
In fact, that sounds a little more natural for me.
It was hard for me to use these informal contractions.
So far we've talked about the most common informal contractions, but there are more.
I'm going to give a few more examples here, but it's likely that you'll hear many others
as you continue to notice how native English speakers talk.
For example, let's talk about "whaddya."
"Whaddya" is short for "what do you."
Whaddya want to do after work?
Which words should be stressed?
Whaddya want to do after work?
As you can hear, it sounds a little weird to put extra stress on "whaddya."
We're trying to rush through those words.
You want to make sure you're stressing the words that truly matter in the sentence.
You can hear that I'm naturally including another contraction.
Whaddya want to do after work?
Now, let's look at the past tense version of this contraction: whadja.
What did you: whadja.
Whadja you do last night?
How would you stress this?
Whadja do last night?
Try repeating it with me.
Whadja do last night?
A related example: wheredja, where did you.
Wheredja you go on vacation last year?
Which words am I stressing?
Wheredja go on vacation last year?
Try repeating the correct stress along with me.
Wheredja go on vacation last year?
Another example: howdya.
That's a contraction of "how do you."
Howdya feel about that?
Which words am I stressing?
Howdya feel about that?
Howdya you feel about that?
A similar example: howdja.
It's a contraction of "how did you."
Howdja find this awesome restaurant?
Which words am I stressing?
Howdja find this awesome restaurant?
Another similar example: whydja, why did you.
Whydja leave so early?
Which words are stressed?
Whydja leave so early?
Yes, you're right.
All of the words are stressed.
Whydja leave so early?
And last but not least, let's talk about "don't cha."
That's a contraction of "don't" and "you."
Dontcha love this language?
Which words am I stressing?
Dontcha love this language?
As you can see, there are a lot of informal contractions that native speakers will naturally
use when they're feeling very relaxed when they're speaking.
Just a reminder that we do call these "informal contractions," so while you will sometimes
hear them in professional situations, it's probably best that you emphasize speaking
clearly and correctly stressing the rest of the sentence rather than trying to include
these when you don't need to.
Like I said at the beginning, these informal contractions are totally optional.
If you don't feel comfortable using them, don't force it.
As you continue to advance, you continue to feel more confident about your stress, your
intonation, linking and connected speech, you will start naturally including these contractions.
The more you listen to native English speakers, the easier it's going to be to include them
in your speech and sound natural while doing so.
Even if you don't want to include these informal contractions in your speech, they're helpful
to understand so that you're able to decode and be able to follow
what native speakers are saying.
As always, I encourage you to listen to the words that are stressed in the sentence.
That will help you understand the meaning that is most important.
If words are contracted, it's because they're high frequency words and
we just fly right through them.
Or it's because they're not that important.
Pay attention to the words that receive the most stress in the sentence
in order to follow the meaning.
After watching this video, I hope you feel much more confident understanding and eventually
using these informal contractions.
Remember, in order to sound more like a native speaker when using them, you want to be sure
you correctly stress the rest of the sentence.
Don't forget that!
That's what's going to help you sound more natural.
If you need more guidance on how stress works in American English, be sure to check out
all the resources I've included in the description below the video and also in the cards.
I have plenty of resources that will help you get started creating that natural rhythm
of English and the flow that will help you sound more natural.
Once again, I'm Kim from englishwithkim.com.
I'm your guide to the essential conversation skills you need to sound more natural in English.
If you like this video, please be sure to give it a thumbs up and share it with a friend.
Have a good one.
Goodbye.