What about "Baby,I R,I'm a star?" I R??

If I Was Your Girlfriend

I don't know if the title would work written correctly.

If I Were Your Girlfriend

Honestly, there are grammatical errors throughout music. Music isn't graded for grammar.

jbchavez said:

So what are the GRAMMY'S for then?

One thing I hate in general is when people don't say "between you and I'..... that is just wrong... although fewer and fewer people are aware and one day it will probaby be deemed "acceptable". the only excuse in song to do it is for rhyming purposes. but there's a Whitney song, i can't think of now, where they say that and it doesnt' even rhyme....im like "you could've said you and "ME" and it would've been just as good.

GaryMF said:

"Between you and I" is incorrect. Was that you meant to say? You said you hate when they don't say that.
[Edited 7/14/07 17:46pm]

sexxydancer said:

It's obviously grammatically incorrect, but it doesn't bother me, because it was obviously done on purpose.

somewhere in that song 'Something in the Water'.. Prince says 'Don't Not Compute' (2 negatives).. listen to it.. u'll hear it.. oh and I love his grammar
[Edited 7/14/07 18:10pm]

coolcat said:

I was just about to ask the same question, out of sheer curiousity.

Also, what is so wrong about "me and you" ? Should it rather be "you and me" , is that the problem, or " I and you "? ( Which is wrong, as far as I know ). Or is the most correct form " You and I " ?

BobGeorge909 said:

Yeah, you´re right but then again it was Prince himself who corrected someone in 1988 while performing Still Would Stand All Time

"Who´s the fool singing will ? It´s would...!"

I'm a stickler for grammar usualy, but I think there's a difference between using spoken-colloquial forms (like "me and you" for example) or slang-dialectical patterns (i.e. ain't/no type forms which are very common especially in African-American dialects)..... and using plain old bad grammar "baby but I R

GaryMF said:

"Between you and I" is incorrect. Was that you meant to say? You said you hate when they don't say that.
[Edited 7/14/07 17:46pm]

SORRY BUT YOUR MISTAKEN.

coolcat said:

SORRY BUT YOUR MISTAKEN.

Okay grammar freaks.

"If I was your girlfriend"

vs

"If I were your girlfriend"

were: Second person singular and plural and first and third person plural past indicative of be.


were is plural form. Think about it. "If I were going to the store"

"I was going to the store"

"I were going to the store"

"I was the king of the world" RIGHT

"I were the king of the world" WRONG

Hence:

"I was your girlfriend"

vs.

"I were your girlfriend" You really think IF changes everything. FOOLS!
[Edited 7/15/07 2:18am]

GaryMF said:
".

Actually "ain't" is a term used quite a lot in White-American southern societies as well. All cultures have various slang-dialects. In the Caribbean "broken English among Black and White Caribbeans are considered normal, everyday slang-dialect. Take for example "I don't know" you will hear "me tain know". Often words used with "th" are pronounced without the "h". My mother always says the number "three" like "tree" or "thank you" like "tank you"...and I tease her all the time, but lovingly of course.. Broken English in the Caribbean is used by those most educated. but don't be fooled, they use proper grammar or English when necessary. I believe we all do it, no biggy. But GaryF, since you're a stickler for grammar, going to various parts of the caribbean and just listening to the slang-dialect pattern would probably drive you up the wall.
[Edited 7/15/07 8:24am]

2elijah said:

Actually I would find it really interesting to hear and learn about the Caribbean slang/dialect!!! I'm very interested in how languages and dialects form etc.

re: Ain't/no ....yeah I had a feeling that it's also very Southern (and I know it's not exclusively African American....I think some British dialects use it too) but I'm most familiar with it in terms of African American usage in terms of my actual experience (I haven't spent much time in the South so I didn't want to speak to that)

And while I'm a "stickler," I also respect dialectical forms. Which is why I think it's cool for Prince or other pop songs to use slang/dialect (i.e. "Ain't Nobody" etc. one of my favorite songs!). Moreover, in a sense there are still "rules" to it, albeit informal.... for example you wouldn't say "I Ain't got SOME"; you'd say I ain't gone NONE".

But just plain old incorrect, sloppy usage like "Between you and I" or inane usages like "I R" do annoy me!
[Edited 7/15/07 20:33pm]

BobGeorge909 said:

Yeah, you´re right but then again it was Prince himself who corrected someone in 1988 while performing Still Would Stand All Time

"Who´s the fool singing will ? It´s would...!"

All that glitters ain't gold

|
|
V

All that glisters is not gold

A friend of mine didn't want me to miss this thread because she knows how I feel about poor English.
Just to add my two cents, I rarely bother about The grammar in a song, whether it's Prince or someone else. Personally, I just think we can allow some leeway there. I do, however, have two pet peeves. One is mentioned several times already. That's the use of "I" when it should be "me" and I see it written and hear it so much on television that I fear that someday it's going to be accepted. It truly grates on my ears! The other is not grammer; it's punctuation, but I just gotta say it. It's the use of apostrophes where they don't belong as in the word it's when it should be its or in pluralizing something like a name, say The Smith's when it should be The Smiths.
OK, That felt good! Now I'm finished. I think we're worrying unnecessarily about Prince's grammar. We're supposed to get the message. He's only used ONE word that bothered me and I'm not going to say it again.