Speaker 1: Here's a question. Have you ever heard someone say ain't
in a song or a movie like Aino Sunshine when
she's go or I ain't got no time for that.
Maybe you wondered, is ain't actually English? Well, it sure
ain't in the textbooks, but it is in real life,
and I ain't kidding.
Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from
New York City. And here's your English teacher, Michael.
Speaker 1: All right, 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 eight ninety nine.
Ain't that real English? How native speakers really use ain't?
Thanks for tuning in and welcome back to the podcast.
Today we're diving into a word that confuses a lot
of English learners, ain't. It's not considered standard grammar, but
that doesn't mean it's wrong. In fact, native speakers use
ain't all the time in casual spoken English, especially in music, movies,
and everyday conversation. So if you've ever asked yourself what
does ain't even mean, today's episode is for you. And
here's a little history. Ain't wasn't always considered bad English.
Back in the seventeen hundreds and early eighteen hundreds, ain't
was actually used by educated speakers and writers as a
normal contraction for things like amnot, is not, and have not.
But by the late eighteen hundreds, grammar reformers decided it
sounded too casual, and it started getting pushed out of
schools and formal writing. These days, ain't is still used
in everyday conversation, music, and regional speech. Even though it's
technically non standard, it's definitely real English. Okay, So what
does ain't actually mean? Well, it's a contraction, and a
very informal one. In fact, ain't has two uses. Here's
the first one. Ain't can replace negative forms of the
beverb isn't, am not, and aren't like he ain't ready yet,
which means he isn't ready yet. When my boss asked
me if I was tired, I was like, nope, I
ain't tired, meaning I'm not tired. And maybe you're wondering
where my dogs are, well, they ain't here at the moment.
Ain't can also replace negative forms of has and have
like hasn't and haven't. Someone asked me, did Kim finish
her homework? And I said nope. She ain't finished her homework.
In other words, she hasn't finished it. Here are some
more examples. My sister asked me if I saw the
movie Kiss of the Spider Woman. But I ain't seen
that movie yet, and I was surprised to hear that
Jack ain't been to that new pizza shop in town.
He loves pizza. Just remember, ain't is very casual. It's
not something you want to use in formal situations like
business meetings or writing essays, But in casual conversation or
if you're just quoting someone, it's totally fine. People use
ain't to sound relaxed, real, or just playful. Now let's
move on to another super common way people use ain't.
The phrase ain't no. And yes, that's a double negative,
like what we talked about in episode eight eighty one.
Your grammar teacher might not like it, but it's very
common in American English for emphasis. You probably heard ain't
no in songs like what I played for you at
the beginning of this episode, Ain't no Sunshine when She's
go or in the classic soul tune ain't no Mountain
high enough. In both of these examples, that ain't no
just adds emphasis like there isn't any sunshine when she's gone.
But with ain't it has a stronger emotional tone. You'll
hear this in everyday conversation too, like it was pouring
rain on Sunday and I was like, Huh, ain't no
way I'm going out in this weather. Or about that
nasty guy at the party last week, there ain't no
excuse for being that rude. So yeah, double negatives like
ain't no break the rules, but they add punch style
and emotion. Now here's another fun one, Ain't that followed
by an adjective. This is often used to say something
isn't very whatever that adjective is. It's a kind of
low key, sometimes sarcastic comment, like that movie was supposed
to be funny, but it ain't that funny, or the
weather ain't that bad today. Here's one more, This green
curR ain't that spicy. On the other hand, we can
start a sentence with ain't that to mean it is
very Like if someone says ain't that interesting, they mean
that's very interesting. When one of my friends said he
was gonna stay at the W hotel, I said, ain't
that expensive? Yeah, that hotel is very expensive. Or that
classic rock and roll hit. Both of these uses of
ain't that are super common in casual English conversation. You'll
hear things like he ain't that smart, or it ain't
that hard, and sometimes it even becomes a compliment, like
if someone's worried about their performance, you might say, Hey,
it ain't that bad. Let's recap. Ain't replaces isn't, am not,
haven't or hasn't as in he ain't ready and she
ain't finished her homework yet. Ain't no is a double
negative used for emphasis, like you know, ain't no reason
to worry and ain't that can be used in negative
and positive sentences. This lesson ain't that hard? Yeah, ain't
that right? And again, ain't is not for formal English.
We use it when speaking casually, but avoid it in
writing or serious situations. So here's your challenge. Try listening
for ain't in a song, movie, or TV show this week.
You don't have to use it yourself, but understanding it
will help you find real spoken English more easily. If
you do feel like trying it out, say something like
I ain't got time for that today and see how
it feels. And hey, if you want to practice the
English from this and all of my podcasts with me
and a group of other awesome English learners. Come check
out my podcast Learner's Study Group. We meet once a
week and go over the language from these podcast lessons together.
It's a great way to build confidence and improve your speaking.
Just click the link where you are listening to this
podcast right now, or visit Myhappy English dot com and
choose podcast episode eight ninety nine for more info. Thanks
for listening, and 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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English by leaving us a review. Get English, Get Happy,
Happy English.