gonna

English Online Dictionary. What means gonna‎? What does gonna mean?

English

Alternative forms

• gon, gon'
• gunna, gonner, gunner
• gna (Internet slang)

Etymology

Contraction of going to. Attested since 1917. The pronunciation of present participles with the sound n rather than ng has a long history (see g-dropping on Wikipedia).

Pronunciation

• (stressed form) IPA^(key): /ˈɡʌnə/, /ˈɡɔnə/, /ˈɡɒnə/
• The final schwa does not trigger linking-R in accents where it usually would (in most non-rhotic accents). Instead there is hiatus, a glottal stop, or the final vowel is pronounced /-uː/.
• (unstressed form) IPA^(key): /ɡənə/
• Homophones: gunner (based on the /ˈɡʌn.ə/ pronunciation), goner (based on the /ˈɡɒn.ə/ pronunciation) (non-rhotic)
• Rhymes: -ʌnə, -ɔnə, -ɒnə

Verb

gonna (auxiliary)

1. (colloquial) a modal used to express a future action that is being planned or prepared for in the present.

   I'm gonna hafta find a new job soon.

Usage notes

• This spelling, like any nonstandard spelling, risks appearing very informal. Even when going to has the pronunciation that gonna denotes, it is usually spelled going to.
• Gonna, like the pronunciation it denotes, only occurs when going to is a modal verb indicating a future tense (something that is bound to happen or is planned), and not for lexical uses of "going to" (i.e. the verb go followed by a prepositional phrase beginning with to). Thus, one says  I’m gonna go now, but  I’m gonna the mall is not observed. (In such contexts, I’m going to the mall is said, with going to pronounced more fully, e.g. IPA^(key): [ˈɡoʊɪŋ tə], [ˈɡoʊɪnə].) The same is true of other modal verb contractions such as shoulda, woulda, or coulda (e.g. She shoulda come with us but not *She shoulda some patience).

Derived terms

• gonnabe

See also

Anagrams

• angon, Ongan, Angon

Italian

Etymology

Inherited from Late Latin gunna (“leather garment”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡɔn.na/, (traditional) /ˈɡon.na/
• Rhymes: -ɔnna, (traditional) -onna
• Hyphenation: gòn‧na, (traditional) gón‧na

Noun

gonna f (plural gonne)

1. skirt

Derived terms

• gonnellino
• minigonna

References