how should I say: "I wanna go to / travel to France " ?
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Answers · 15
3
Both are correct: I want to go to France. I want to travel to France.
Here's the explanation for "gonna, wanna, and havta (or hafta)".
SPEAKING
In standard North American English, everyone *says* these words in normal conversation. ("I'm gonna go to work tomorrow. I wanna eat pasta tonight.") The only time you would actually pronounce "gonna" (or wanna or hafta) as two distinct words would be in very slow, very articulate speech, so they usually don't come up in conversation.
WRITING
You should not write "gonna, wanna, or hafta". They are substandard. Yes, you will see them written in comic books, or you could even use them in a letter to a friend, if you're writing very informal English indeed (just like you might write: I wanna c u tomorrow). It is always inappropriate in normal writing.
The SPEAKING/WRITING disparity
This means you always *say* "gonna" but you always write "going to". And this is completely normal. Every language has things that are said slightly differently from how they are written: Spanish speakers write "un poco, un beso" but they say "um poco, um beso"; French speakers write "je fais", but in normal conversation that usually becomes "ch'fais". Germans write "Tag" but say "tak". Etc.
2
You can say : Je voudrais/ j'aimerais (= I would like) aller/voyager en France
1
BRITISH (AUSTALIAN, NEW ZEALAND) versus NORTH AMERICAN
Most speakers of British English (or Australian, or New Zealand
English) would disagree with what I have stated above. This is
because speakers of these dialects don't use tongue flaps. A
tongue flap is the sound you hear in the word "butter" in NA
English. It sounds like "budder" with a very quick 'd'. It is, in
fact, a single trill of the tongue, just like in the Spanish word
"pero". The tongue flap is standard (and universal) in NA
English, and is the reason "going to" ends up sounding like
"gonna", "want to" ends up sounding like "wanna". The "t" of the
word "to" is pronounced with a tongue flap, making it virtually
indistinguisable from the preceding "n". So the bottom line is
this: If you're learning British (or Australian, or New Zealand)
English, never say "gonna", always say (and write) "going to". If
you're learning North American English, always say "gonna"
(unless you're speaking extremely slowly), and always write
"going to".
1
Speakers of North American English say `wanna` exactly like the two syllables `wan-na`. It is standard, and universal in NA English. Saying `want to` or `going to` in two distinct words (going to) in fluent speech will sound odd (and foreign) in North America.
That is what I mean.
1
Oooops, just realized with was a question asking about French :-)
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