ESL Hip Hop http://OFFLINEZIP.wpsho Learn English with hip-hop and rap. Mon, 01 Dec 2014 16:58:44 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.4 Learn Grammar with Common http://OFFLINEZIP.wpsho2013/09/learn-grammar-with-common/ http://OFFLINEZIP.wpsho2013/09/learn-grammar-with-common/#respond Fri, 20 Sep 2013 07:05:10 +0000 http://OFFLINEZIP.wpsho?p=811 “I Used to Love H.E.R.” is a hip hop song by the Chicago-born rapper Common. Released on the 1994 album Resurrection, “I Used to Love H.E.R.” has since become one of Common’s best known songs. The song speaks on the direction that hip hop music was taking during the late 1980s and early 1990s. It specifically refers to the fall ofconscious […]

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]]> “I Used to Love H.E.R.” is a hip hop song by the Chicago-born rapper Common. Released on the 1994 album Resurrection, “I Used to Love H.E.R.” has since become one of Common’s best known songs. The song speaks on the direction that hip hop music was taking during the late 1980s and early 1990s. It specifically refers to the fall ofconscious and Afrocentric rap; as well as the rising popularity of West Coast hip hop and G-funk. In the song, Common makes an analogy comparing the degradation of a woman with the deterioration of hip hop music after its commercial success forced it into the mainstream. This criticism ignited a feud with West Coast rapper Ice Cube, and helped fuel the growing animosity towards the West Coast hip hop scene during the early stages of the East Coast-West Coast rivalry despite Common hailing from the Mid-West (taken verbatim from Wikipedia).

I met this girl when I was ten years old.
And what I loved most, she had so much soul.
She was old school when I was just a shorty.
Never knew throughout my life she would be there for me.

Grammar: Perfect Modal Verbs

I might’ve failed to mention that this chick was creative.
Once the man got to her, he altered her native.

English has several modal verbs, including: can, could, will, would, may, might, must, and should. We normally use modal verbs to describe the present and future, but we can also use it for past actions and situations. To use modal verbs in the past:

Subject + modal + have + past participle.

Subject + modal + have + not + past participle.

Modal + subject + have + past participle?

Meaning of Perfect Modals

The meaning of Perfect Modals is sometimes different than present or future modal verbs.

  •  I could have gone with my friends to Europe if I had saved more money. We would have had a great time!
    • Use could have / would have for unrealistic past possibilities.
    • This grammar is called the third conditional.
  • My friend has been in school for a very long time. I don’t know if she will graduate in the summer, but she will have certainly graduated by December.
    • Use will have to discuss an expected completed action in the future.
    • This grammar is also called the future perfect.
  • You might have seen me in the streets, but you don’t know me. You may have met my friends, but you still don’t know me!
    • Use may have / might have for realistic past possibilities.
  • I feel so sick right now! I shouldn’t have eaten that smelly sushi! We should have gone to the pizza restuarant.
    • Use should have to express regrets.
  • The diamond ring is beautiful! It must have cost you a fortune!
    • Use must have to make logical deductions.
    • Unlike might have / might have, use must have if you are 100% certain about a situation based on facts, evidence or logic.
  • I can have gone with my friends to Europe.
    • The verb can is not possible. Use could have instead.

Pronunciation and Writing

In spoken and written English, people often contract the modal and the verb have. Here are some common contractions

  • could have = could’ve = /kʊdəv/
  • would have = would’ve = /wʊdəv/
  • should have = should’ve = /ʃʊdəv/
  • must have = must’ve = /məstəv/
  • might have = /maɪtəv/
    • Most people don’t write might’ve
    • In the song, T.I. pronounces it like /maɪtə/
  • may have = /meɪəv/
    • Most people don’t write may’ve
  • will have = will’ve  = /wɪləv/
    • will’ve is not possible

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