Speaker 1: Okay, I ain't gonna lie. This lesson may bother some people,
but believe me when I tell you I ain't looking
to cause any trouble. I'm just here as your humble
English teacher with a lesson in English slang for you.
Ain't that nice?
Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from
New York City. And here's your English teacher, Michael.
Speaker 1: Alright, thank you John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael here
from Happy English and I help people speak English better.
And this is Happy English Podcast Episode seven sixty. Ain't
I talking about? Ain't? That's today's English lesson topic. Do
you have a request for a topic here? Just send
me a message Atmhappy English dot com and let me know.
Even although I ain't going to tell you a deep
history of English slang, let's talk about a word that's
both loved and hated, Ain't. This little contraction has quite
the backstory. Ain't popped up in the early nineteenth century
as a way to say am not, is not, or
are not. In those days, ain't was considered to be
a casual, informal word, and I quickly found a home
in everyday's speech, especially in the South part of the
United States. In the nineteen nineties, ain't became known as
colloquial slang, and I remember my high school teachers wouldn't
accept ain't as correct English, correct or not. Over the years,
this powerful little word has been embraced in pop songs,
TV shows, and movies. Love it or hate it, ain't
has definitely made its mark on the English language. For
today's podcast, lesson, let's check out how we use ain't
in everyday conversational English. From a grammatical point of view,
ain't is used as a contraction of am not, are not,
and is not. Whenever someone asks me to explain the
rules of American football, I have to tell them that
I ain't interested in sports. I know it's popular, but
I just ain't interested. My friends ain't interested in it either.
I ain't. We ain't. It doesn't matter what the subject
of the sentence is. You can use ain't. Jack ain't
in the office today because he caught a cold. I
guess Jack and his wife ain't going to the party
tomorrow either. We ain't gonna have a good time without Jack,
that's for sure. He ain't, They ain't. We ain't ain't
that interesting. Ain't is also used as a contraction of
have not and has not yes, ain't has even invaded
the present perfect tense. I ain't seen my friend Steve
since he moved to Florida. In fact, we ain't been
to Florida in over ten years, and as far as
I can remember, Steve ain't come back to New York
for a visit. I ain't seen, we ain't been, he
ain't come back. Ain't that a mouthful? And speaking of
have and has, we also used ain't got, which means
don't have or doesn't have. Debbie isn't working right now,
so she ain't got enough money to take a vacation
this year. The boss said that he ain't got enough
time to look at my proposal. Today, when I open
the fridge, I realized, we ain't got nothing to eat.
I gotta go shopping. She ain't got, he ain't got,
we ain't got, and that ain't all. It's also possible
to use ain't in a yes or no question? Ain't
that interesting? Ain't we going to the beach today? Ain't
he supposed to be wearing a seat belt? You like
my podcast? Huh? Ain't I so lucky? And finally, like
I mentioned in episode seven, fifty nine. We can use
ain't in a double negative sentence, like when we say
I ain't got nobody to talk to, or Joe, he
ain't got no money, so he's not going to the
bar tonight. Like other kinds of slang, I'd say that
ain't is good to know, but not necessarily good to use.
Ain't can be used in casual conversations with your friends
or relatives, but do remember it's slang, and slang ain't
good to use in the business scene or informal conversations.
Ain't that the truth. Keep in mind the best way
to remember this kind of English, or any other word
or phrase in English is to take that word or phrase,
write it in a sentence that's true for you or
true in your world, and then memorize your sentences. Hey,
did you know that you can get the chance to
practice this kind of English with me directly? You can
get more practice using your English when you join my
podcast Learner's Study Group. There you can make new friends,
join us for live group lessons every week where we
practice these podcasts English lessons together. Plus you get access
to the PDF transcript and audio download for every Happy
English podcast in the past and in the future. And
on top of that, each episode has exercises where you
can practice this English point with speaking and writing checked
by me. To learn more, just visit Myhappy English dot
com and choose podcast lesson seven sixty. Remember, learning another
language is not easy, but it's not impossible, and I'm
here to help you on your journey.
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Happy English
Speaker 1: Sas