Forum newsfeeds
Forum Newsfeeds


Sites for Teachers

Sites for Teachers


Go Back   UsingEnglish.com ESL Forum > Learning English > Ask a Teacher

Notices

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1 (permalink)  
Old 07-Dec-2007, 15:40
Newbie
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Country: Italy
Posts: 1
Current Location: Italy
First Language: italian
Member Type: Student or Learner
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
matilde50 is on a distinguished road
Default wanna

sorry, what means wanna?

thanks
Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links
  #2 (permalink)  
Old 07-Dec-2007, 16:02
Devil's tear's Avatar
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Country: Yemen
Posts: 617
Current Location: my room
First Language: Belly dance
Member Type: Student or Learner
Thanks: 36
Thanked 28 Times in 22 Posts
Devil's tear is on a distinguished road
Default Re: wanna

It means want to
but it's an american accent.
Reply With Quote
  #3 (permalink)  
Old 07-Dec-2007, 19:54
Key Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Country: Canada
Posts: 3,025
Current Location: Canada
First Language: English
Member Type: English Teacher
Thanks: 4
Thanked 481 Times in 442 Posts
riverkid is a glorious beacon of lightriverkid is a glorious beacon of lightriverkid is a glorious beacon of lightriverkid is a glorious beacon of lightriverkid is a glorious beacon of light
Default Re: wanna

Quote:
Originally Posted by matilde50 View Post
sorry, what means wanna?

thanks
Hello Matilda,

All speech gets compressed so that what you see on paper as writing is virtually unrecognizable in speaking. ESLs must learn how these sounds are actually produced for normal everyday speech.

Here are but a few examples:

I/You/We/They wanna ... = I/You/We/They want to ...
He/She wansta ... = He/She wants to ...

D'ya wanna go ta the movies? = Do you want to go to the movies?

Wenjya go to London? = When did you go to London?
Reply With Quote
  #4 (permalink)  
Old 07-Dec-2007, 20:21
rewboss's Avatar
Moderator
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Country: England
Posts: 1,574
Current Location: Germany
First Language: English
Member Type: English Teacher
Thanks: 0
Thanked 17 Times in 14 Posts
rewboss is on a distinguished road
Default Re: wanna

It's not just American speech -- you often hear it in Britain too.

In normal speech, as riverkid says, we often speak very quickly, and we don't say every letter.

In Italian you have the same thing, but you probably don't know this. For example, the Italian word "notte" was originally "nocte", but people stopped saying the "c". Another example: You don't say "de il", you say "del".

But these examples are now correct for written Italian. "Wanna" is not good for formal written English. It's best to write "want to".

This is the same with "gonna", which means "going to". But also, you can only say "gonna" when it's used for the future: "I'm gonna write that letter." You can't use it when you really mean "go": "I'm going to Rome."
__________________
rewboss.com
Reply With Quote
  #5 (permalink)  
Old 08-Dec-2007, 00:10
LwyrFirat's Avatar
Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Country: Turkey
Posts: 308
Current Location: Ankara
First Language: Turkish
Member Type: Student or Learner
Thanks: 23
Thanked 7 Times in 7 Posts
LwyrFirat is on a distinguished road
Default Re: wanna

Doesn't it also stand for "want a" , apart from "want to" ?
Reply With Quote
  #6 (permalink)  
Old 08-Dec-2007, 01:38
Key Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Country: Canada
Posts: 3,025
Current Location: Canada
First Language: English
Member Type: English Teacher
Thanks: 4
Thanked 481 Times in 442 Posts
riverkid is a glorious beacon of lightriverkid is a glorious beacon of lightriverkid is a glorious beacon of lightriverkid is a glorious beacon of lightriverkid is a glorious beacon of light
Default Re: wanna

Quote:
Originally Posted by LwyrFirat View Post
Doesn't it also stand for "want a" , apart from "want to" ?

Yuppers, it shorely does, L. Good addition.
Reply With Quote
  #7 (permalink)  
Old 08-Dec-2007, 01:41
Key Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Country: Canada
Posts: 3,025
Current Location: Canada
First Language: English
Member Type: English Teacher
Thanks: 4
Thanked 481 Times in 442 Posts
riverkid is a glorious beacon of lightriverkid is a glorious beacon of lightriverkid is a glorious beacon of lightriverkid is a glorious beacon of lightriverkid is a glorious beacon of light
Default Re: wanna

Quote:
Originally Posted by rewboss View Post

This is the same with "gonna", which means "going to". But also, you can only say "gonna" when it's used for the future: "I'm gonna write that letter." You can't use it when you really mean "go": "I'm going to Rome."
I don't quite follow the distinction, RB. Unless you mean that "I'm going to Rome" relates to someone in the actual process of travelling.

Otherwise, both "be going to" & "the present continuous for the future" are used to describe future events.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
You make me wanna hector51 Ask a Teacher 2 29-Dec-2006 14:36
wanna, gonna, gotta lukaszh Ask a Teacher 4 10-Nov-2006 23:41
"You don't wanna test me!" Blabbermouth Ask a Teacher 2 11-Jul-2006 19:35


New To Site? Need Help?

All times are GMT. The time now is 21:26.


vBulletin, Copyright ©2000 - 2008, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.2.0
Copyright © 2002 - 2008 UsingEnglish.com