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English
Etymology
Eye dialect form of a reduction of would have.
Pronunciation
Contraction
woulda
- (colloquial) Contraction of would have.
You woulda told him the truth.
Usage notes
Like other similarly formed contractions, speakers only use woulda to replace the modal sense of would have, i.e. where have precedes a past participle: We woulda come if you'd called. They do not use it to replace would followed by the verb have used lexically, e.g. *We woulda a reason. (We would have a reason would be contracted to We'd have a reason instead.) See also gonna.
Derived terms
See also
Category:English contractions
Jamaican Creole
Etymology
From English would.
Verb
woulda
- would
Gyal, mi cyaan believe yuh woulda do dat to mi.- Girl, I can't believe you would do that to me.