- pronunciation:
- eInt
- features:
- Language Note
| part of speech: |
contraction |
| definition: |
(informal) contracted form of "am not," "is not," "are not," "have not," or "has not."
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Ain't is not correct English. So why is it in a dictionary? For one thing, it is part of American English. You may have heard people use "ain't," especially in everyday conversation. You may even use it yourself. This does not mean it is correct. In fact, "ain't" will make you sound uneducated, even ignorant, to some people. Use "am not" or "isn't" or "aren't," instead, especially in writing. Sometimes an author will write "ain't" on purpose, in order to show how a character talks. But authors probably don't talk that way themselves.