Isn't She Lovely

• By: Stevie Wonder
• Album: The Definitive Collection

Lyrics:

Vocabulary in this song:

Vocabulary	Meanings
lovely /ˈlʌv.li/ A2	adjective - beautiful; attractive
wonderful /ˈwʌn.dɚ.fəl/ A2	adjective - extremely good; admirable
precious /ˈpreʃ.əs/ B1	adjective - of great value; not to be wasted or treated carelessly
love /lʌv/ A1	noun - a strong feeling of affection verb - to have a strong feeling of affection for
pretty /ˈprɪt.i/ A2	adjective - attractive in a delicate way without being truly beautiful
angel /ˈeɪn.dʒəl/ A2	noun - a spiritual being believed to act as a messenger of God
happy /ˈhæp.i/ A1	adjective - feeling or showing pleasure or contentment
heaven /ˈhev.ən/ B1	noun - a place regarded in various religions as the abode of God and the angels
blessed /blest/ B2	adjective - made holy; consecrated
life /laɪf/ A1	noun - the condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic matter
meaning /ˈmiː.nɪŋ/ B1	noun - what is meant by a word, text, concept, or action
conceived /kənˈsiːvd/ B2	verb - to become pregnant with (a child).
done /dʌn/ A2	verb - past participle of do.

Grammar:

• Isn't she lovely?

  ➔ Question tag with auxiliary verb inversion

  ➔ This is a rhetorical question. The inverted word order ('Isn't' instead of 'She is not') emphasizes the speaker's strong belief that she is lovely. It invites agreement rather than seeking information. It uses the auxiliary verb 'is' in a negative contracted form ('isn't').

• Less than one minute old

  ➔ Comparative adjective with implied subject and verb

  ➔ The sentence is elliptical. It implicitly means '[She is] Less than one minute old'. The phrase uses the comparative adjective 'less' to indicate youthfulness. The auxiliary verb 'is' and pronoun 'she' is implied.

• I never thought through love we'd be

  ➔ Conditional clause with past unreal conditional

  ➔ This is a slightly truncated version of a conditional sentence. It implies 'I never thought that through love we *would* be [making one so lovely]'. It expresses a past unreal condition - something that the speaker didn't expect to happen.

• Making one as lovely as she

  ➔ Comparative construction with 'as...as'

  ➔ This uses the comparative construction 'as...as' to show similarity. 'As lovely as she' means 'as lovely as she is'. It shows that the child is very lovely, to the extent of being similar in loveliness to someone else (implied to be extremely lovely already).

• Truly the angel's best

  ➔ Ellipsis and superlative adjective

  ➔ This is another elliptical phrase, meaning '[She is] Truly the angel's best'. 'Best' is a superlative adjective, indicating the highest degree of goodness or quality. The possessive 'angel's' shows association with angels.

• We have been Heaven-blessed

  ➔ Present perfect passive voice

  ➔ This sentence uses the present perfect passive voice: 'We *have been blessed*'. It indicates that the blessing ('Heaven-blessed' acting as an adjective) happened in the past and has a relevant effect on the present. It emphasizes the state of being blessed, rather than the actor who did the blessing.

• it could have not been done

  ➔ Modal verb 'could' with perfect infinitive in negative form

  ➔ This expresses a past impossibility. The structure 'could have + past participle' indicates something that was not possible in the past. The addition of 'not' makes it negative.