Eve is an American Grammy Award winning rapper-songwriter, record producer and actress. Her first three albums have sold over 8 million copies worldwide. Her debut album, Let There Be Eve¦Ruff Ryders’ First Lady, was released September 14, 1999 on Ruff Ryders Entertainment and Interscope Records. It sold 213,000 copies in the first week and is now certified Double Platinum. The album features singles such as “Gotta Man” and “Love Is Blind” with Faith Evans. All of the songs on the album were written by Eve herself, and she became the third female hip-hop artist to have her debut album peak at number one on the Billboard 200, with Lauryn Hill‘s album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, being the first in 1998 and Foxy Brown‘s album,Chyna Doll, achieving the feat earlier in 1999 (taken verbatim from Wikipedia).
Love is blind, and it will take over your mind.
What you think is love is truly not.
You need to elevate and find.
Grammar: Reported Speech
She told me she would leave you. I admit it. She did.
Telling me to mind my business.
Said that it was her life and stay the fuck out of it.See, I laid down beside her in the hospital bed.
And about two hours later, doctors said she was dead.
When we report people’s ideas and speech and use their exact words, this is called direct speech. This grammar uses the exact words of the speaker, and it is usually marked with quotation marks.
- He said, “I don’t want to work here anymore.”
- She told me, “He is a great guy, but I’m not ready for a relationship.”
It is also possible to report somebody’s speech and ideas with our own words, especially if we are reporting in another place and at a different time. This grammar is called reported or indirect speech, and it requires a change in pronouns, verb tenses and time/location words. For example:
- He said, “I don’t want to work here anymore.”
He said he didn’t want to work there anymore. - She told me, “He is a great guy, but I’m not ready for a relationship.”
She told me he was a great guy, but she wasn’t ready for a relationship. - She said, “I will leave Mark.”
She said she would leave Mark. - She said, “It is my life!”
She said that it was her life!
Verb Tense Change in Reported Speech
If the reporting verb is in the past (said, told, thought, knew, found out, asked, realized), then you must change the verb tense.
- will — would
- I said, “Bring an umbrella because it will rain.”
- I said bring an umbrella because it would rain.
- simple present — simple past
- He said, “I need help!”
- He said he needed help.
- present progressive — past progressive
- She said, “I am learning English now.”
- She said she was learning English now.
- present perfect — past perfect
- He said, “The hotel staff have been so helpful.”
- He said the hotel staff had been so helpful.
- simple past — past perfect
- She said, “My father studied chemistry.”
- She said her father had studied chemistry.
- can — could
- He said, “I can’t pass the TOEFL. It’s too hard!”
- He said he couldn’t pass the TOEFL because it was too hard.
- past perfect / would / could — no change in verb tense
- I said, “I couldn’t go to the meeting last week.”
- I said I couldn’t go to the meeting.
If the reporting verb is in the present, future or present perfect, then you do not have to change the verb tense.
Vocabulary
- fall for somebody (in. phrasal verb) – to be attracted to somebody and deeply in love with them. How can you fall for such a lazy man? He doesn’t even work full time!
- be on call (idiom) – to be available for work, especially for emergencies. My father is a doctor, and he’s always on call. Sometimes he has to leave dinner unexpectedly to perform surgery.
- take over (in. phrasal verb) – to have control over something. Do you think love can take over the world?
- not give a crap / shit / fuck / damn (slang) – to not care about something. I don’t give a damn how old your grandmother is! She’s a rude lady.
- have the nerve (idiom) – behaving in a way that other people find rude or offensive. I can’t believe he has the nerve to bring his new girlfriend to the party after breaking up with you last week.
- figure out (sep. phrasal verb) – to think about and solve a problem. I can’t figure out how to fix my computer. Can you help me?
Writing Task
Do you think love is blind? If you were in love with somebody, would you stay in the relationship no matter what? Why do some men and women stay in harmful or abusive relationships? If you found out that your friend was in a bad relationship, what advice would you give your friend? Please write your ideas in the comments below!