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100% GOOD (3 votes)AnsweredLanguage Question
What is the difference between “want” and “wanna” when i look at the translate, they are always mean same things


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vincent profile picture vincentAugust 2019

"Want to" and "Wanna" have the same meaning. "Wanna" is the slang contraction of "want to".

Wanna must not be written but only spoken (it's slang).

Example: I want to go = I wanna go.

See the list of other slang contractions: https://polyglotclub.com/wiki/Language/English/Vocabulary/Slang-contractions

  • vincent profile picture vincentAugust 2019
    Yes you are right
    I've already seen it written like in movie subtitles, comics books etc
  • dknapp profile picture dknappAugust 2019
    It might be written but only on very informal formats. Social media possibly.
exRanger profile picture exRangerAugust 2019
One minor addendum to Vincent's excellent explanation:

While, i fact, "wanna" usually means "I want to", it can (and does) on many occasions represent the phrase "I want a ___".

Also worth noting that "wanna" can apply to any type pronoun, i.e., "I wanna", "you wanna", "s/he wanna" - never mind that there is an "s" @ "s/he wants" --, "we wanna", and "they wanna". The "he/she wanna" is obviously even more "slangy" than the others, but then this should not come as a surprise to persons who "know" about English (American for sure and some other, e.g., London/UK) Black slang, in which the verb "to be" is utterly corrupted for lack of conjugation: I be, you be, he be, she be, we be, they be -- all of these are heard "on the streets" of America's urban (and not-so-urban) communities. Thus, the collapse of "He/she wants to/a" into "He/she wanna ...." should not be surprising.
exRanger profile picture exRangerAugust 2019
Note: I grew up on the South Side of Chicago, during the 60s and 70s, and thus I could compile a dictionary of Black Urban Slang that might run into the 1,000s of words and phrases, not to mention how one would go about explaining "Black Grammar". BTW, the English language, as it is used by many Black Americans, is called "Ebonics" by linguists in The States.
  • vincent profile picture vincentAugust 2019
    Whaoo, a dictionary of Black Urban Slang ! is it online? please post the link here if you want