VOA日常语法2024--Breaking the Rules with Miley Cyrus’ ‘Flowers’

Breaking the Rules with Miley Cyrus’ ‘Flowers’

　　Every year, the Recording¹ Academy² in the United States gives awards to the performers and songwriters with the most outstanding achievements from the year before. The Academy calls those awards "the Grammys."

　　At the 2024 Grammy awards, the Song of the Year award went to Miley Cyrus for her song Flowers. In today's lesson, we will look at some grammar rules Cyrus follows in the song and one rule she breaks. The song begins with the story of a break-up:

　　We were good, we were gold

　　Kinda dream that can't be sold

　　We were right 'til we weren't

　　Built a home and watched it burn

　　Mm, I didn't wanna leave you

　　I didn't wanna lie

　　Started to cry, but then remembered I...

　　In this first part, Cyrus uses an informal adverb, "kinda," to describe the dream she and her partner had. In formal language, she would say, "It was the kind of dream that can't be sold." We expect to hear informal language in songs, so this is not really breaking any rules.

　　She follows with another informal word, the verb form "wanna," in "I didn't wanna leave you, I didn't wanna lie." It is very common to hear this pronunciation in spoken English of the words "want to."

　　Reflexive pronoun³ rule

　　Next, we get to where Cyrus follows and breaks the same rule. She describes the expressive⁴ actions of a romantic partner that she can do for herself. Her song tells us about the kinds of things a romantic partner might do, but Cyrus says she, as an independent woman, can do those things without the partner.

　　Listen for the reflexive pronoun "myself" in these lines:

　　I can buy myself flowers

　　Write my name in the sand

　　Talk to myself for hours

　　Say things you don't understand

　　I can take myself dancing

　　And I can hold my own hand

　　Yeah, I can love me better than you can

　　Did you catch the place where she broke the rule about when to use a reflexive pronoun? The rule is: when the object and the subject of the verb are the same, use the reflexive pronoun to describe the object.

　　Cyrus follows this rule when she sings, "I can buy myself flowers," "talk to myself for hours" and "I can take myself dancing." But she breaks it when she sings, "I can love me better than you can."

　　Let's take a moment for a little quiz here. Can you say or sing the same line with the reflexive pronoun? Take a moment so you can think.

　　Following the rule, this should be "I can love myself better than you can." Cyrus probably uses "me" to match the beat of the music. Often, that is more important to singers than following grammar rules!

　　Adjective⁵ "own"

　　In one line of the song, Cyrus uses the adjective "own" to refer to things belonging to herself. Let's listen to that line:

　　And I can hold my own hand

　　Here, "own" is correct because it makes the action clear. If she had not used "own," we might not understand. She could be singing about holding her hand up, for example. "Hold my own hand" makes it clear to us that she is using one hand to hold another.

　　What do you think of Miley Cyrus' song? Are there any singers in your country who sing about their independence in this way?

　　Write to us at [email protected] and tell us about them.

　　And that's Everyday Grammar!

　　Words in This Story

　　achievement – n. something accomplished⁶, especially by superior⁷ ability, special effort, or great courage

　　reflexive (pronoun) – adj. a class of pronouns that refer back to the subject of a sentence or clause

1 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

2 academy   

n.(高等)专科院校；学术社团，协会，研究院

参考例句：

• This is an academy of music.这是一所音乐专科学院。
• I visited Chinese Academy of Sciences yesterday.我昨天去访问了中国科学院。

3 pronoun   

n.代词

参考例句：

• The relative pronoun is often dropped if it is the subject.关系代名词做受词时常被省略。
• Here you should use plural pronoun.这里你应该用复数代词。

4 expressive   

adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的

参考例句：

• Black English can be more expressive than standard English.黑人所使用的英语可能比正式英语更有表现力。
• He had a mobile,expressive,animated face.他有一张多变的，富于表情的，生动活泼的脸。

5 adjective   

n.形容词；adj.形容词的，用作形容词的

参考例句：

• Don't apply that adjective to me.不要用那个字眼来形容我。
• The adjective loose has several senses. 形容词loose有几个义项。

6 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

7 superior   

n.上级，高手，上标；adj.上层的，上好的，出众的，高傲的

参考例句：

• This machine is superior in many respects to that.这台机器在很多方面比那台好。
• He acted in obedience to the orders of his superior.他是遵照他的上级指示行动的。