wouldn't

See also: wouldnt

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Contraction of would not, equivalent to would +‎ -n't.

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation, US) IPA(key): /ˈwʊdn̩t/
    • (US) IPA(key): [wʊdⁿn̩t], [wʊɾənt], [ˈwʊʔn̩t]
  • (Yorkshire) IPA(key): /ˈwʊnt/, [ˈwʊnʔ]
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Audio (UK):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ʊdn̩t, -ʊnt

Verb

wouldn't

  1. would not (negative auxiliary[1])
    Wouldn't you often have supper on the terrace on Sundays?
    • 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VI, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
      She was so mad she wouldn't speak to me for quite a spell, but at last I coaxed her into going up to Miss Emmeline's room and fetching down a tintype of the missing Deacon man.

Coordinate terms

See also

  • Appendix:English modal verbs
  • Appendix:English tag questions

References

  1. ^ Arnold M. Zwicky and Geoffrey K. Pullum, Cliticization vs. Inflection: English n’t, Language 59 (3), 1983, pp. 502-513