Learn the different meanings of the word AIN'T and how to use it correctly. Also see - MOST COMMON MISTAKES IN ENGLISH & HOW TO AVOID THEM:    • 50 MOST COMMON MISTAKES in English Gr...  

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