Dictionary

gonna en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ɡən.ə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈɡɔn.ə/ (US)
• /ˈɡʌn.ə/ (US)
• [ɡõ] African-American Vernacular
• /ɡən.ə/ (Australia)
• /ɡən.ə/ (unstressed)
• (US) audio

Etymology

Contraction of going to. Attested since 1913 (OED, "gonna"). The pronunciation of present participles with the sound n rather than ng has a long history (see g-dropping on Wikipedia).

Meanings

1. (auxiliary, colloquial) A modal used to express a future action that is being planned or prepared for in the present.
   • Well, you ain't got much longer to laugh. I'm coming, and I'm gonna put one in your dirty hide for every lying crack that you made about me, see? 1931, Mervyn LeRoy, Little Caesar:
   • Never gonna give you up, / Never gonna let you down, / Never gonna run around and desert you. / Never gonna make you cry, / Never gonna say goodbye, / Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you. 1987, Stock Aitken Waterman, “Never Gonna Give You Up”, in Whenever You Need Somebody, performed by Rick Astley, RCA Records:
   • I'm gonna hafta find a new job soon.

Forms

Deriveds

gonnabe

Relateds

gotta · to · wanna · I'm 'onna · shoulda · I'mma · woulda · finna · coulda