This Christmas

• By: Donny Hathaway, Lalah Hathaway

Lyrics:

Vocabulary in this song:

Vocabulary	Meanings
Christmas /ˈkrɪs.məs/ A1	noun - the annual Christian festival celebrating Christ's birth, held on December 25
know /noʊ/ A1	verb - to have information or awareness
trim /trɪm/ B2	verb - to decorate
tree /triː/ A1	noun - a woody perennial plant
fun /fʌn/ A1	noun - enjoyment, amusement, or lighthearted pleasure
blazing /ˈbleɪ.zɪŋ/ B2	adjective - shining brightly or burning fiercely
bright /braɪt/ B2	adjective - giving out or reflecting a lot of light
caroling /ˈkærəlɪŋ/ B2	verb - singing carols
night /naɪt/ A1	noun - the period of darkness in each twenty-four hours; the time from sunset to sunrise
special /ˈspeʃ.əl/ A2	adjective - different from what is usual
presents /ˈprez.ənt/ A2	noun - a thing given to someone as a gift
cards /kɑːrdz/ A1	noun - a piece of thick, stiff paper or thin pasteboard, used for writing or printing on
world /wɜːld/ A1	noun - the earth, together with all of its countries, people, and natural features
cheer /tʃɪər/ B1	noun - happiness and good spirits
shake /ʃeɪk/ A2	verb - to move (something) up and down or from side to side with rapid, forceful movements
merry /ˈmeri/ A2	adjective - cheerful and lively

Grammar:

• I'm gonna get to know you better

  ➔ Future Simple (informal) with "gonna"

  ➔ "Gonna" is a colloquial contraction of "going to", used to express a future intention. "I'm gonna" is short for "I am going to". "better" is an adverb modifying "get to know", implying a deeper or more complete understanding.

• How much fun it's gonna be together

  ➔ Exclamatory sentence structure, Future Simple with "gonna", Impersonal "it"

  ➔ This expresses excitement about a future event. "How much fun" emphasizes the high degree of enjoyment expected. "it's gonna be" uses the impersonal "it" as a placeholder, referring to the general experience of being "together".

• Fireside is blazing bright

  ➔ Present Continuous (describing a current state)

  ➔ "is blazing" describes the current action of the fire. Although not a literal action verb, "blaze" describing the active and bright burning. "bright" is an adjective describing the quality of the blazing.

• We're caroling through the night

  ➔ Present Continuous (describing an activity in progress)

  ➔ "We're caroling" (We are caroling) describes the activity of singing Christmas carols that is happening at the moment. "through the night" indicates the duration or time frame of the caroling.

• This Christmas will be A very special Christmas for me

  ➔ Future Simple, Noun Phrase modification with adjectives

  ➔ "will be" expresses a future state or condition. "A very special Christmas" is a noun phrase. "special" and "very" are adjectives modifying the noun "Christmas".

• And as I look around, Your eyes outshine the town, they do

  ➔ Subordinating conjunction "as", Simple Present Tense, Ellipsis (repetition of "outshine the town")

  ➔ "as" introduces a clause indicating time or circumstance. "look" is in the simple present tense. "they do" is an example of ellipsis; it means "they outshine the town", but the verb phrase is omitted for emphasis and rhythm.