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Informal Contractions & Relaxed Pronunciation (PDF)

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English language speakers often use words with relaxed pronunciation and informal contractions. Informal contractions (relaxed pronunciation) are very common in American English. This short form is often used in speaking and in informal writing.

Informal contractions are often used in daily English conversations. Using these words is a good way to make yourself sound more like a good English speaker and understand daily English conversations. Informal contractions are commonly used in spoken language and informal writing.

However, it’s best to avoid using them in formal writing and academic papers.

Here is a table of common informal contractions in English with examples:

Contraction	Expansion	Example
can’t	can not	I can’t find my keys.
don’t	do not	Don’t touch that!
won’t	will not	He won’t be able to come to the meeting.
ain’t	am not	Ain’t nobody got time for that.
isn’t	is not	It isn’t fair.
shouldn’t	should not	You shouldn’t eat that if you’re allergic.
you’re	you are	You’re so kind.
they’re	they are	They’re going to the store later.
I’m	I am	I’m feeling really tired today.
let’s	let us	Let’s go to the park after lunch.

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Examples:

Contraction	Expansion	Example
coulda	could have	I coulda finished the project earlier.
dunno	don’t know	I dunno what time the movie starts.
gimme	give me	Can you gimme a hand with this?
gonna	going to	I’m gonna go to the store later.
gotta	got to	I gotta go to the dentist tomorrow.
kinda	kind of	This pizza is kinda spicy.
oughta	ought to	We oughta start the meeting soon.
shoulda	should have	I shoulda called you yesterday.
sorta	sort of	It’s sorta cloudy outside.
wanna	want to	I wanna go to the beach this weekend.
woulda	would have	I woulda come to your party, but I was busy.

Informal Contractions	Relaxed Pronunciation	Full Form	Example
gonna	g’na / ˈɡʌ.nə	going to	“I’m gonna eat lunch.”
wanna	w’na / ˈwʌ.nə	want to	“I wanna go with you.”
gotta	g’ta / ˈɡɒ.tə	got to / have got to	“I gotta leave soon.”
gotta (2)	g’ta / ˈɡɒ.tə	got a	“I gotta new car.”
kinda	k’nda / ˈkaɪnd.ə	kind of	“He’s kinda tired.”
sorta	s’ra / ˈsɔːrt.ə	sort of	“It’s sorta strange.”
lemme	l’me / ˈlem.i	let me	“Lemme try it.”
lemme (2)	l’me / ˈlem.i	leave me	“Lemme alone.”
dunno	d’no / ˈdʌ.no	don’t know	“I dunno the answer.”
gimme	g’me / ˈɡɪm.i	give me	“Gimme a minute.”
gotta (3)	g’ta / ˈɡɒ.tə	have got a	“I gotta problem.”
shoulda	sh’lda / ˈʃʊd.ə	should have	“He shoulda known.”
coulda	c’lda / ˈkʊd.ə	could have	“She coulda helped.”
woulda	w’lda / ˈwʊd.ə	would have	“I woulda gone.”