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I have a sentence below:

You ain't gotta believe me.

In this sentence, If i'm not wrong, Does ain't mean have not? and Does gotta mean got to?

So, it means You have not got to believe me. I'm I correct?

aparente001
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Selena
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  • I generally translate "ain't" as "is not" or "are not", but it's really quite "flexible". For the above I'd translate it as "do not". – Hot Licks Apr 21 '18 at 13:02
  • I gather it means "you don't have to believe me". – Centaurus Apr 21 '18 at 13:09
  • As @HotLicks says, "ain't" can be used as a general negation, it's not always a contraction of the same verb. – Barmar Apr 21 '18 at 17:43
  • @Bamar When is ain't a negation and not a contraction? – Lambie Apr 21 '18 at 18:22
  • OP showed her research ("Does ain't mean have not? and Does gotta mean got to?") and the question is clear; but I'm voting to close as duplicate: https://english.stackexchange.com/q/29755/112436 – aparente001 Apr 22 '18 at 00:44
  • @Lambie - It's not always a contraction of the same verb. (In fact, in terms of linguistics, it's probably its own unique verb, vs a contraction of any "normal" ones. I'm thinking that some British dialects would accept a sentence roughly like "That ae a good looking boat!") – Hot Licks Apr 22 '18 at 01:46
  • My question **was to Bamar* about his statement. Also, I say "translate" for the benefit of the OP, as generally I don't translate it in fact. – Lambie Apr 22 '18 at 15:09

2 Answers2

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Yes, you are correct. Most fluent English speakers would say in formal grammar:

You do not have to believe me.

lbf
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ain't translates into standard English as: is/are not.

gotta translates as: have got to or have to, the two ways to say have in English and where to have to or have got to means be obliged to do something.

ain't gotta: do not have to [verb] or have not got to [verb].

Example: He ain't gotta go today.

Translation; He does not have to go today. OR He hasn't got to go today.

aparente001
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Lambie
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