Pronunciation Reduction Wanna

If you have already learned about reducing going to, to gonna, you will find this lesson to be an easy one. A commonly reduced sound that is similar to gonna, is wanna. Wanna is the reduction of the two words want to. Similar to gonna, wanna is a common sound used by native English speakers all of the time. Like other reductions it is important to learn how to listen for it, while keeping in mind that the reduction is informal instead of formal English. It is always best to speak clearly and fluently, using formal English whenever possible.

Wanna is pronounced as a two syllable word, with the first syllable receiving the accent. It is pronounced as “won uh” and also as “waw nuh”. It includes the schwa sound in both pronunciations.

To practice this, repeat the following sentence slowly three times:

• I want to eat.
• I want to eat.
• I want to eat.

Next, repeat the same sentence, but faster and with the wanna pronunciation reduction:

• I wanna eat.
• I wanna eat.
• I wanna eat.

Here are a few more examples of the wanna reduction:

• Do you want to come? Do you wanna come?
• They want to help. They wanna help.
• I want to sleep. I wanna sleep.
• We want to go. We wanna go.

Keep in mind that a sentence like “He wants to go”, cannot be reduced to “He wanna go”. It is grammatically incorrect due to the subject verb agreement. Continue to listen for this reduction to improve your listening and comprehension skills. Keep in mind this is considered informal English. Do you wanna sound like an American?