What Does AIN'T Mean? - Is it Correct English? - With Example Sentences & Quiz

178,935 views ・ 2017-11-23

Learn English Lab


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The word ‘ain’t’.
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You may have heard native speakers say it in real life, or in movies or songs.
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What does it mean?
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And should you use it in your own speech and writing?
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That’s what I’m going to teach you in this lesson.
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As always, there is a quiz at the end of the video to check your understanding.
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So let’s start.
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Alright, ‘ain’t’ is most commonly used in the place of three forms – am not, is
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not, and are not.
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Here’s an example: “You gotta believe me.
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I ain’t lyin’!”
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What does that mean?
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Well, it means the same thing as “You have got to believe me.
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I am not lying.”
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Here, ‘ain’t’ means ‘am not’.
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I want you to notice two other things in the first sentence: it has ‘gotta’ which is
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a contraction of ‘got to’, and the ‘have’ is missing – it just says ‘you gotta’.
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The other thing is ‘lyin’ in which the ‘g’ is dropped.
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These are features of informal, colloquial, spoken language.
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But the second sentence with the same meaning is more correct and acceptable in formal or
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semi-formal situations.
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So here’s an important thing you should know: ‘ain’t’ is a very informal word.
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So you should never use it in any formal or semi-formal situation, especially in writing.
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OK, here’s another example: That guy in the blue shirt – ain’t he the new manager?
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So what is the meaning of ‘ain’t’ here?
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The meaning is ‘isn’t’ – it’s like saying “Isn’t he the new manager?”
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Notice how this sentence has two parts – “That guy in the blue shirt” and “ain’t he
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the new manager?”
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– that’s OK in informal speech but the sentence is not well-connected.
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To make it more grammatical, we can say “Isn’t that man in the blue shirt the new manager?”
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– it’s more complex but it’s also more formal.
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Alright, what about this example: A mother says to her child: “You ain’t gettin’
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no dessert until you eat your vegetables.”
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Can you understand the meaning?
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It means “You aren’t not getting any dessert until you eat your vegetables.”
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- dessert means cake or ice cream or something like that.
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So here, ‘ain’t’ means ‘aren’t’.
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Notice that the sentence says, ‘aint’ gettin’ no dessert’ – ‘ain’t’
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is already a negative, and then you have another ‘no’ – this is called a double negative
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and it’s grammatically incorrect.
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But, again, in very informal speech, you will hear that sometimes.
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Now, we’ve talked about using ‘ain’t’ in the place of ‘am not’, ‘is not’
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and ‘are not’.
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In some situations, you will also see the word used in the place of ‘have not’ and
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‘has not’.
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For example: “We’re goin’ to New York to visit some relatives ‘cuz we ain’t
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been there in ages.”
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It means “because we haven’t been there in ages.”
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(‘in ages’ means ‘for a long time’).
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Here’s another one: “I loaned Jim $100 two months ago and he ain’t paid me back
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yet!”
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What does ‘ain’t’ mean here?
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It means ‘hasn’t’: “I lent Jim $100 two months ago, but he hasn’t paid me back
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yet!”
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– ‘lent’ is considered a little more formal than ‘loaned’ and the conjunction
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‘but’ fits better in this sentence when we’re talking a little more formally.
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So here are all the sentences we’ve looked at.
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Can you see why ‘ain’t’ is considered bad English?
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It’s because one word is used in the place of so many other words.
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So the listener gets the impression that your vocabulary is limited and that’s why you’re
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using ‘ain’t’ instead of the more accurate words ‘am not’, ‘isn’t, ‘aren’t’,
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‘haven’t’ or ‘hasn’t’.
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In fact, many people in academic and professional circles consider ‘ain’t’ to be a word
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only used by less educated people.
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So my suggestion is that you avoid ain’t.
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I don’t use it personally.
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Now, if you need to say it as part of a joke or in a line from a movie, then it’s OK.
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But in other situations, it’s best to just not use this word.
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Alright, if you’re ready, now it’s time for our quiz: There are five sentences on
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the screen.
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All of them are in very informal, nonstandard English.
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I want to rewrite all of these sentences so that they are more formal and correct.
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Stop the video, write out your answers, then play the video again and check.
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Alright, here are the answers.
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How many did you get right?
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Let me know in the comments.
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If your answers were different from mine, you can ask me about that in the comments
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as well.
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If you liked this lesson, give it a thumbs up by hitting the like button.
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If you’re new to my channel, click that subscribe button and the bell icon next to
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it to get my latest lessons right here on YouTube.
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Happy learning and I will see you in another lesson soon.
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