All Falls Down

• By: Kanye West

Lyrics:

Vocabulary in this song:

Vocabulary	Meanings
falls /fɔːlz/ A2	verb - to drop down; descend.
promise /ˈprɒmɪs/ B1	verb - to assure someone that one will definitely do something noun - a declaration assuring that one will do something
conscious /ˈkɒnʃəs/ B2	adjective - aware of and responding to one's surroundings; awake.
college /ˈkɒlɪdʒ/ A2	noun - an educational institution or establishment, in particular one providing higher education.
money /ˈmʌni/ A1	noun - a current medium of exchange in the form of coins and banknotes.
parents /ˈpeərənts/ A1	noun - a father or mother.
school /skuːl/ A1	noun - an institution for educating children.
pressure /ˈpreʃər/ B1	noun - the exertion of force upon a surface by an object, fluid, etc., in contact with it.
issues /ˈɪʃuːz/ B1	noun - an important topic or problem for debate or discussion.
addicted /əˈdɪktɪd/ B2	adjective - physiologically or psychologically dependent on a substance or activity.
retail /ˈriːteɪl/ B1	noun - the sale of goods to the public in relatively small quantities for use or consumption rather than for resale.
watches /ˈwɒtʃɪz/ A1	noun - small timepiece worn typically on a strap on one's wrist
dream /driːm/ A1	noun - a series of thoughts, images, and sensations occurring in a person's mind during sleep.
hate /heɪt/ A2	verb - feel intense dislike for. noun - intense dislike; hatred.
wealth /welθ/ B2	noun - an abundance of valuable possessions or money.

Grammar:

• That major that she majored in don't make no money

  ➔ Double Negative (Non-standard)

  ➔ Using "don't" and "no" creates a double negative. In standard English, it should be "doesn't make any money" or "makes no money". This is a feature of African American Vernacular English (AAVE).

• Her parents'll look at her funny

  ➔ Contraction + Adverbial use of adjective

  ➔ "Parents'll" is a contraction of "parents will". "Funny" is used as an adverb modifying "look". In standard English, it is more common to say "look at her funnily."

• Sophomore, three yurrs, ain't picked a carurr

  ➔ Non-standard spelling, negative contraction and omission of auxiliary verb

  ➔ "yurrs" is a non-standard spelling of "years", "ain't" is a negative contraction meaning "has not" and the auxiliary verb "has" is omitted at the beginning. The standard english version is "Sophomore, three years, (she) hasn't picked a career.

• We tryna buy back our 40 acres

  ➔ Contraction ('tryna')

  ➔ "Tryna" is a contraction of "trying to". This is common in informal speech and song lyrics.

• Even if you in a Benz, you still a in a coupe

  ➔ Omission of verb "are"/"is" and article 'are' before "in"

  ➔ The verb "are" or "is" is omitted before the word "in". In standard English, it should be "Even if you are in a Benz, you are still in a coupe".

• That's why shorty's hollerin', "Where the ballers at"

  ➔ Informal Contraction and Omission of Auxiliary Verb

  ➔ "Shorty's" is a contraction of "shorty is", which is acceptable in informal speech. The question "Where the ballers at?" omits the auxiliary verb "are." The standard form is "Where are the ballers at?".

• 'Cause it, I went to Jacob with twenty-five thou

  ➔ Contraction, informal language, omission of conjunction

  ➔ "Cause" is a contraction of "because". The sentence begins without the conjunction "because", and uses informal language. The word "thou" is used as an abbreviation for thousand. Standard English might be "Because of it, I went to Jacob with twenty-five thousand."