GONNA and WANNA


You might hear native speakers saying ‘gonna’ and ‘wanna’ in fluent speech, but is it correct?

If you’re a learner of English, should you be saying and writing ‘gonna’ and ‘wanna’?

Here’s my advice:

Writing
Don’t write ‘gonna’ or ‘wanna’ (unless it’s very informal writing, like an email to a friend or an SMS). This is because ‘gonna’ and ‘wanna’ are features of pronunciation not written English, usually. Sometimes they’re written down, but only in informal English, like in song lyrics you might read or in SMS test messages written quickly. For academic or IELTS writing, don’t use ‘wanna’ or ‘gonna’. Also, don’t use them in business emails or reports. Honestly, they just don’t look very professional.

Speaking
You can say ‘gonna’ or ‘wanna’ when you speak, but you have to do it correctly!
When you use ‘gonna’ you should remember the auxiliary verb ‘be’, and don’t stress ‘gonna’ in the sentence.
No: “I gonna watch the football”
Yes: “I‘m gonna watch the football

I suggest that you learn to say “I’m going to” or “I want to” before you start saying “I’m gonna” and “I wanna”.