Common Spoken Reductions: Wanna, Gonna, Gotta, and More

When native English speakers talk casually, they don't say "want to" or "going to"—they say "wanna" and "gonna." These spoken reductions are essential for understanding natural English and sounding more fluent yourself.

Why Learn These?

• Comprehension: You won't understand movies, songs, or conversations without knowing these
• Natural speech: Using them appropriately makes you sound more fluent
• Speed: Native speakers use them because they're faster to say

Important: These are informal. Use them in casual conversation, but avoid them in formal writing or speeches.

WANNA = Want to / Want a

Examples:

• "I wanna eat." = "I want to eat."
• "Do you wanna come?" = "Do you want to come?"
• "Wanna coffee?" = "Want a coffee?"

GONNA = Going to

Examples:

• "I'm gonna leave now." = "I'm going to leave now."
• "It's gonna rain." = "It's going to rain."
• "What are you gonna do?" = "What are you going to do?"

GOTTA = Got to / Have got to

Examples:

• "I gotta work tomorrow." = "I've got to work tomorrow."
• "You gotta try this!" = "You've got to try this!"
• "We gotta hurry." = "We have to hurry."

LEMME = Let me

Examples:

• "Lemme think about it." = "Let me think about it."
• "Lemme help you." = "Let me help you."
• "Lemme know." = "Let me know."

GIMME = Give me

Examples:

• "Gimme that book." = "Give me that book."
• "Gimme a break!" = "Give me a break!"
• "Gimme five minutes." = "Give me five minutes."

KINDA = Kind of

Examples:

• "It's kinda cold." = "It's kind of cold."
• "I kinda like it." = "I kind of like it."
• "That's kinda weird." = "That's kind of weird."

SORTA = Sort of

OUTTA = Out of

Examples:

• "I'm outta time." = "I'm out of time."
• "Get outta here!" = "Get out of here!"
• "We're outta milk." = "We're out of milk."

DUNNO = Don't know

SHOULDA, WOULDA, COULDA

Past modal reductions:

Common Question Reductions

Examples:

• "Whatcha doing?" = "What are you doing?"
• "Dontcha think so?" = "Don't you think so?"
• "Gotcha!" = "Got you!" / "I understand!"

When to Use (and NOT Use) These

USE in:

• Casual conversation with friends
• Informal texting
• Understanding movies and music

AVOID in:

• Job interviews
• Formal writing
• Business presentations
• Academic papers

Practice Dialogue

Read this conversation with natural reductions:

A: "Hey, whatcha doing later?"
B: "Dunno. I kinda wanna stay home."
A: "Come on, we gotta go to the party!"
B: "Lemme think about it."
A: "You shoulda said yes earlier!"
B: "Okay okay, I'm gonna come. Gimme an hour."