Gonna or gunna?
gonna is a verb meaning “A modal used to express a future action that is being planned or prepared for…”; gunna is a contraction meaning “Alternative spelling of gonna”. Wiktionary gives them as spellings of the same word. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) gonna is about 148 times as common as gunna.
What is the difference between gonna and gunna?
| gonna | gunna | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | verb | contraction |
| Meaning | colloquialA modal used to express a future action that is being planned or prepared for in the present | Alternative spelling of gonna |
| Example | I'm gonna hafta find a new job soon | none recorded |
| Pronunciation | /ɡən.ə/ /ˈɡʌn.ə/ /ˈɡɔn.ə/ | not recorded |
| In writing | 195 times per million words | 1.3 times per million words |
Sources: gonna and gunna in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of gonna and gunna
gonna
- 1
colloquialA modal used to express a future action that is being planned or prepared for in the present
I'm gonna hafta find a new job soon
gunna
- 1
Alternative spelling of gonna
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, gonna or gunna?
gonna appears 195 times per million words; gunna 1.3 times per million words.
gonna 195 times per million wordsgunna 1.3 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).