Say it ain't so~!

Hey everyone, today I will talk about a nonstandard contraction. This contraction is not widely accepted and is seen as REALLY LOW CLASS. It is often heard in movies or TV shows but is usually spoken by uneducated characters, really countryside people, etc. I did some research on ain't and it has been around for 200 years~! But it is still not accepted by teachers and by people studying the English language... but it is VERY common in CASUAL English.

ain't

This is a contraction that is used to replace:

am not

I am not hungry.
I'm not hungry.

I ain't hungry.

is not

He is not here.
He isn't here.

He ain't here.

are not

They are not coming.
They aren't coming.

They ain't coming.

has not

He has not done his homework yet.
He hasn't done his homework yet.

He ain't done his homework yet.

have not

They have not started the test yet.
They haven't started the test yet.

They ain't started the test yet.

The fact that it is used for so many different words is why it is not accepted by people who teach English grammar. If you use ain't regularly when speaking English you will give the impression you are poor, uneducated, stupid, etc. So while I think you should know ain't for watching movies, TV shows, traveling in the US and Canada, it isn't something you should use often when speaking English.

I hope you found this lesson interesting, have a nice week~!

Phil