What! Oh no there's a metro strike today. I've gotta get to the station in within half an hour..

How am I gonna get there? I don't wanna miss my train. It'll be impossible to get a taxi.

There's gotta be a way. There's gotta be a way.

Hello and welcome to LetThemTalk. My name's Gideon

What I want to talk to you about today is how to use use

"gonna", "wanna", "gotta" and "oughta" in conversation.

Let me first clear up a couple of things First of all these forms are not slang they

are the correct forms of pronunciation both in a formal and informal way. However, these

are only spoken forms. You cannot write "gonna", "wanna" etc except in dialogue or in

song lyrics and maybe when sending a text.

The second thing I hear is that is only an American way of speaking. That's not the case.

I'm British we use it all the time and you'll find these forms throughout the English speaking world

So let's look at the construction

"Going to" before an infinitive can be pronounced "gonna". For example I'm gonna be late.

In the negative use "not gonna" for example

they're not gonna tell you again.

Remember you can only use "gonna" when it is followed by an infinitive. So, for example,

don't say "I'm gonna the zoo". That's NOT correct

instead say "I'm going to the zoo".

In the same way "want to" before an infinitve can be pronounced "wanna".

for example I wanna speak to you about something.

In the negative use "don't wanna"

You really don't wanna do that.

Note that for the third person singular because of the "s" you cannot use "wanna" so you have

to say "he" or "she wants to" but with other pronouns you can use" wanna"

For strong obligation you can use "gotta" which is (have/has) got to" before an infinitve

For example I've got to go.

You've gotta be careful

There is no negative of "got to" or "gotta". Just use "don't have to".

I don't have to go

Also "got to" is just used in the present tense In the past or future use "had to" or

"will have to". For example "I had to go".

"oughta" just means "ought to" before an infinitive.

For obligation "ought" is more or less the same as "should" Here are some examples .

you oughta give up smoking.

They oughta be back soon. Only use "oughta" in the affirmative

for the negative use "ought not" or "oughtn't".

Remember that these forms exist to make it easier to pronounce sentences they might require

a little practice but it will be worth the effort so do do use them.

That's it! Thank you for watching more English language videos coming soon.