Continue with GoogleGonna, wanna, gotta: the short forms textbooks skip
Textbooks teach going to, want to and have got to. Then you watch a video and hear "gonna", "wanna" and "gotta" in every second sentence. They are not slang words you need to learn separately: they are the normal way these phrases sound when people speak at full speed. Once you know the pattern, you will hear them everywhere.
Yevhenii, founder of YouTongue
Nov 4, 2026 · 4 min read
The short forms
| You hear | It stands for | Example |
|---|---|---|
| gonna | going to (+ verb) | I'm gonna call her. |
| wanna | want to / want a | Do you wanna come? |
| gotta | have got to / have to | I gotta go. |
| kinda | kind of | It's kinda cold. |
| lemme | let me | Lemme see. |
| gimme | give me | Gimme a second. |
| dunno | don't know | I dunno. |
All of them are listed below with real clips. Play them at 0.75× first.
gonna1,000+wanna1,000+gotta1,000+kinda1,000+lemme365dunno1,000+gimme523
Wanna and gotta
Want to becomes "wanna" because the t of want and the t of to run together and the vowel of to shrinks to a short "uh". The same happens to got to: "gotta".
Wanna pick? You wanna pick somebody?
You gotta do what you gotta do, Steve!
Nebraska Public Media · “gotta” on YouTongue
Gotta usually means have to: "I gotta go" means "I have to go". Listen for what is missing: speakers often drop have completely, so the sentence starts with I and goes straight to gotta.
Kinda, lemme, dunno
The same squeeze works on kind of, let me and don't know. The small word in the middle (of, me, don't) almost disappears, and what is left is one quick word.
I kinda like biology, it's kinda cool.
Lex Fridman · “kinda” on YouTongue
Guy, lemme see your hands, lemme see your hands.
Nebraska Public Media · “lemme” on YouTongue
These forms are not only American. Here is a British speaker using dunno:
[Greg] I dunno--I dunno what's going on here.
Taskmaster · “dunno” on YouTongue
Gonna: only before a verb
Gonna replaces going to only when it means the future: "I'm gonna call her" (= I will call her). When going to means moving to a place, it stays going to: "I'm going to the shop", never "I'm gonna the shop".
The same check works for wanna: "I wanna go" (want to + verb) and "I wanna coffee" (want a) are both fine in speech, but "Do you want to go?" is the only one you should write in an essay.
Can you say them?
Yes, in conversation. Native speakers of every background use them, and they don't sound rude or uneducated in speech. Using them yourself also makes your rhythm sound more natural, because they keep the stress on the important word: "I'm gonna call her".
Don't write them in formal text: emails at work, essays, exams. In chat messages and on social media they are common.
How to train your ear for them
- Learn to expect them. When you hear "gonna", your brain should already say going to. Read the table above out loud a few times, short form first.
- Listen at 0.75×, then at 1×. Slow is for seeing the shape; full speed is what you will hear in real life.
- Write what you hear. A dictation forces you to decide whether it was "gonna" or "going to", and that is exactly the skill you need.