Strangers In The Night

• By: Frank Sinatra

Lyrics:

Vocabulary in this song:

Vocabulary	Meanings
exchanging /ɪksˈtʃeɪndʒɪŋ/ B1	verb - to give one thing and receive another in return
glances /ˈɡlɑːnsɪz/ A2	noun - a quick look
wondering /ˈwʌndərɪŋ/ B1	verb - to think about something with curiosity or doubt
sharing /ˈʃɛərɪŋ/ B1	verb - to divide and use together
love /lʌv/ A2	noun - a strong feeling of affection verb - to feel deep affection for someone
exciting /ɪkˈsaɪtɪŋ/ B2	adjective - causing excitement or enthusiasm
inviting /ɪnˈvaɪtɪŋ/ B2	adjective - appealing or attractive
heart /hɑːrt/ A2	noun - organ that pumps blood
told /toʊld/ A2	verb - to inform or tell someone something
lonely /ˈloʊnli/ B1	adjective - feeling sad because of lack of companionship
sight /saɪt/ A2	noun - the ability to see; a view or spectacle
together /təˈgɛðər/ A2	adverb - with or in company of others
happy /ˈhæpi/ A2	adjective - feeling or showing pleasure

Grammar:

• Strangers in the night exchanging glances

  ➔ Participle Clause (reduced relative clause). "Exchanging glances" acts as an adjective describing "Strangers in the night".

  ➔ Instead of saying "Strangers in the night *who were* exchanging glances", the relative pronoun and auxiliary verb are omitted, resulting in a more concise phrase.

• Wondering in the night, what were the chances

  ➔ Inversion. In the clause "what were the chances," the subject and verb are inverted for emphasis, usually found in questions or after adverbs of negative meaning.

  ➔ Normally, it would be "what the chances were." Inverting it adds a feeling of contemplation and uncertainty.

• We'd be sharing love before the night was through

  ➔ Conditional clause with "would". "We'd be sharing love" expresses a hypothetical or imagined situation in the future.

  ➔ "Would" expresses a degree of uncertainty or tentativeness about the likelihood of the event happening. It indicates a hypothetical situation rather than a definite future event.

• Something in your eyes was so exciting

  ➔ "So + adjective" construction. Used to emphasize the intensity of the adjective. "So exciting" intensifies the feeling of excitement.

  ➔ Instead of just saying it was exciting, adding "so" makes it a much stronger statement of feeling.

• Something in my heart told me I must...

  ➔ Modal verb "must" (truncated). "Must" expresses strong obligation or necessity, but the sentence is deliberately left unfinished to create suspense.

  ➔ The ellipsis (...) indicates that the speaker is overcome with feeling and can't quite articulate the full intention immediately, heightening the drama.

• Up to the moment when we said our first hello

  ➔ Prepositional phrase "Up to". Indicates a limit of time or degree, leading to a specific point.

  ➔ It emphasizes the significance of that first interaction as a turning point.

• Little did we know

  ➔ Negative Inversion. Starting a sentence with a negative adverbial (like "little") requires inverting the subject and auxiliary verb. Here, "did we know" is used instead of "we did know".

  ➔ This inversion emphasizes the lack of awareness they had at the time. It's a more literary and emphatic way of saying "We didn't know".

• It turned out all right for strangers in the night

  ➔ Phrasal verb: "Turn out" meaning "to result in a particular way". The structure highlights a positive resolution despite initial uncertainty.

  ➔ The phrase emphasizes that despite being "strangers in the night", the relationship ultimately worked out positively, contrasting the initial uncertainty with the eventual success.