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67% GOOD (6 votes)AnsweredLanguage Question
What is " ain't " ? It is formal or informal? How to use it?

Thanks a lot!

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wordsponge profile picture wordspongeDecember 2018
It is not only informal, but many people view those using it as rubes or very uneducated. It has a stigma in some conversations.
  • Pajal7 profile picture Pajal7December 2018
    Let's agree to disagree.

    In my experience as a native American English speaker, I've noticed that you don't have to travel very far outside of the city in many states to find people who use "ain't" in everyday speech.

    You are right, this is a language website. Neither of us knows the context that learners will read this in. However, the original post was made by a native of Mexico, which happens to be closest geographically to the region of the US which primarily uses this contraction. Congratulations, you now may have given him the impression that native English speakers who use this word are uneducated, which may be patently false.

    I for one believe that we should educate foreigners on the differences in dialects, like one would between British and American English dialects.

    Disregarding millions of native American speakers as "distinctly wrong" or "uneducated" because that is how you think is what I would qualify as a narrow view.
  • Mithrawnurro profile picture MithrawnurroDecember 2018
    I hate qualifying languages with the word "properly"...especially English. It's a living, changing language with various regional or dialectal terms which are perfectly "proper" in the right context. There is no universal "proper" English. In answer to the question, yes it's informal and has a stigmatized view as being of the uneducated. That's not to say that educated people don't use the word. My mom (who isn't from the South and has a Ph.D. in Psychology) uses the word all the time in informal settings. Of course, you would never use "ain't" in academic writing, but you would also not use contractions of any kind.
  •  December 2018
    This is not a narrow view. Readers, please note I said "in some conversations". Many people do view it as I stated. In fact, the only people who probably don't, or refuse to admit it is highly informal and incorrect, are the ones who say "ain't". Most do not use it who wish to speak properly. And unless you're from southern Georgia like I am, or another place where they use "ain't", it sounds distinctly wrong.

    Also Pajal7, this is a language website. Proofread.

    We refer to the Southern United States in shorthand as the South*.

  • Pajal7 profile picture Pajal7December 2018
    While some people hold such a narrow view, "ain't" is a very dialectal word that is common in the south, and is considered very normal speech, even among businessmen and respected people in certain Southern communities.

    This can also be a common expression in inner cities, whether in the north or the south of the US.
vincent profile picture vincentDecember 2018
Hi, it's informal. It means "is not" "are not" "have not". See all the meanings here : https://polyglotclub.com/wiki/Language/English/Vocabulary/Meaning-of-ain%27t
  • alecoiba profile picture alecoibaDecember 2018
    If you want to learn english properly, then I would suggest NOT to use it.
    ¨I ain´t got time to do this¨ means the same as ¨I don´t have time to do this¨ but it is not correct to say it.
AussieInBg profile picture AussieInBgApril 2022

”Ain’t” is a highly informal contraction for ”am/is/are not” and ”have/has not”. ”have/has” are auxillary verbs here. Generally used in American English and prevalent in dialects spoken in the south of the US and in Black American English.

If you are learning standard English - either British or American - then it is a good idea to be aware of ”ain’t’ because it is often used in song lyrics and appears frequently in films and so on. However, unless you really know what you are doing, don’t try to use ”ain’t”. It’s not standard English and many language snobs will name-call you about ”not being educated” and might even form a bad opinion about you based on just that.

What I find really amusing is that there are many American English speakers who call those using ”ain’t” ”uneducated”. These American English speakers are in turn described as ”uneducated” by British English speakers because they are unable to use most of the polite forms except several containing the modals ”can/could”. In turn these British English speakers are called ”uneducated” because they only speak English.

Meanwhile, someone who might have grown up in the south of the US with a serious PhD in a hard science, a substantial general knowledge and who can speak a few languages probably uses a few ”ain’t”s in conversation to see how many language snobs are trolled and triggered big_smile.gif