Shoulda woulda coulda....but did ya? : informal contractions
As promised, above are some examples of informal contractions. If you want to brush up on your ordinary contractions first, take a look at this article first. While I don't recommend you learn to speak using informal contractions, especially if you're thinking of taking an official English exam, you definitely need to be aware of them so that you can understand colloquial speech.
Have a look at the table below. Remember: all contractions are informal and I encourage you to use the "official contractions", except in formal pieces of writing such as reports, essays etc., however "informal contractions" are considered slang and should be avoided altogether if you want to speak properly. Many informal contractions don't have official ones.
INFORMAL CONTRACTION OFFICAL CONTRACTION SEPARATED
Shoulda Should've Should have
Woulda Would've Would have
Coulda Could've Could have *
Dunno Don't know Do not know
Gimme - Give me
Lemme - Let me
Gonna - Going to
Wanna - Want to
Gotta - Got to
(have got to)
Hafta - Have to
Lotta - Lot of
(a lot of)
Kinda - Kind of
Outta - Out of
Wha-di-ya - What do you
Whatcha What're you What are you
*Can't remember when we use past modals? Check out the 3rd conditional in my article King Arthur and the Four Conditionals.
If you'd like some listening practice with informal contractions, I recommend you have a go at the lyrics gap-fill exercise here. It's for the song Shoulda Woulda Coulda by the British singer/songwriter Beverly Knight. Listen to the song on youtube or spotify and see if you can fill in the missing lyrics. Once you have all the lyrics, see how many different informal contractions you can identify. The song is about past regrets. Need help with constructions with wish? Review my article Qué serían tus 3 deseos? For more lyrics gap-fill exercises, go to ¡Yo Amo el Jamón! I Love Rock and Roll!
