That's What Friends Are For

• By: Dionne Warwick, Elton John, Gladys Knight, Stevie Wonder
• Album: Love Songs

Lyrics:

Vocabulary in this song:

Vocabulary	Meanings
friends /frɛndz/ A1	noun - a person whom one knows and with whom one has a bond of mutual affection
love /lʌv/ A1	verb - to feel deep affection for (someone) noun - an intense feeling of deep affection
eyes /aɪz/ A1	noun - organs that detect light
smile /smaɪl/ A1	verb - to form one's features into a pleased expression noun - a pleased facial expression
times /taɪmz/ A1	noun - occasions
good /ɡʊd/ A1	adjective - to be desired or approved of
bad /bæd/ A1	adjective - not good; of poor quality or low standard
heart /hɑːrt/ A1	noun - a hollow muscular organ that pumps the blood through the circulatory system by rhythmic contraction and dilation
way /weɪ/ A1	noun - a method, style, or manner of doing something.
chance /tʃæns/ A2	noun - a possibility of something happening
apart /əˈpɑːrt/ B1	adverb - separated by a distance
sure /ʃʊr/ B1	adjective - confident or certain of something
count /kaʊnt/ B1	verb - rely on someone
shining /ˈʃaɪnɪŋ/ B2	adjective - emitting or reflecting light
forever /fərˈevər/ B2	adverb - for all future time

Grammar:

• And I never thought I'd feel this way

  ➔ Conditional sentences (Type 3 implied) / Contractions

  ➔ Implies 'If I had thought about it, I wouldn't have thought I'd feel this way.' 'I'd' is a contraction of 'I would'. Type 3 conditional refers to a hypothetical situation in the past.

• As far as I'm concerned

  ➔ Idiomatic Expression / Prepositional Phrase

  ➔ "As far as I'm concerned" means 'in my opinion' or 'from my point of view.' It is a common idiomatic expression using a prepositional phrase.

• I'm glad I got the chance to say

  ➔ Past Simple / Infinitive of Purpose

  ➔ "I got the chance" is Past Simple tense. "To say" is an infinitive of purpose, explaining *why* the speaker got the chance.

• And if I should ever go away

  ➔ Conditional Sentence (Type 1 variant with 'should')

  ➔ Using 'should' in the 'if' clause expresses a slightly more formal or less likely condition. It emphasizes the hypothetical nature of going away.

• To feel the way we do today

  ➔ Infinitive of Manner / Relative Clause (implied)

  ➔ "To feel" describes *how* to close your eyes. There's an implied relative clause: "the way *that* we feel today."

• Knowing you can always count on me, for sure

  ➔ Present Participle Clause of Reason / Phrasal Verb

  ➔ "Knowing..." introduces the reason *why* you should keep smiling. "Count on" is a phrasal verb meaning 'rely on'.

• That's what friends are for

  ➔ Cleft Sentence / Subject-Complement

  ➔ A cleft sentence emphasizes a particular piece of information. "That's what friends are for" highlights the *purpose* of friends. 'Friends' is the subject and 'what friends are for' is a noun clause acting as the subject complement.

• I'll be on your side forever more

  ➔ Future Simple / Adverbial Phrase of Time

  ➔ "I'll be" is the Future Simple tense, indicating a future action or state. "Forever more" is an adverbial phrase specifying the duration of the action.