When You Gonna Learn?

• By: Jamiroquai
• Album: High Times: Singles 1992 - 2006

Lyrics:

Vocabulary in this song:

Vocabulary	Meanings
news /njuːz/ A2	noun - information about recent events
world /wɜːrld/ A1	noun - the earth and all its inhabitants
play /pleɪ/ A1	verb - to engage in activity for enjoyment
grave /ɡreɪv/ B2	adjective - serious or solemn
consequences /ˈkɒnsɪkwənsɪz/ B2	noun - results or effects of an action
hypocrites /ˈhɪpəkrɪts/ C1	noun - people who pretend to have virtues they do not possess
depend /dɪˈpɛnd/ B1	verb - to rely on someone or something
mountain /ˈmaʊntən/ A2	noun - a large natural elevation of the earth's surface
river /ˈrɪvər/ A1	noun - a large natural stream of water
wake /weɪk/ B1	verb - to stop sleeping
money /ˈmʌni/ A1	noun - a medium of exchange for goods and services
nature /ˈneɪtʃər/ B1	noun - the physical world collectively, including plants, animals, and landscapes
learn /lɜrn/ A2	verb - to gain knowledge or skill by study or experience
stop /stɒp/ A1	verb - to cease movement or operation
fade /feɪd/ B2	verb - to gradually grow faint and disappear

Grammar:

• Have you heard the news today?

  ➔ Present Perfect (Interrogative Form)

  ➔ Uses "have" + past participle to ask about an event that happened at an unspecified time before now. The question focuses on the relevance of the news to the present.

• Money's on the menu in my favourite restaurant

  ➔ Possessive 's, Prepositional Phrase

  ➔ "Money's" uses the possessive 's to indicate that money is the focus or priority in the restaurant. "On the menu" is a prepositional phrase indicating where the money is figuratively located.

• 'Cause there's no fish left in the sea

  ➔ Existential "there is/are", Past Participle as Adjective

  ➔ "There's" (there is) introduces the existence of something. "Left" is the past participle of "leave", used as an adjective to describe the state of the fish – none remaining.

• Greedy men been killing all the life there ever was

  ➔ Present Perfect Continuous (Colloquial), Relative Clause

  ➔ "Been killing" is a colloquial shortening of "have been killing," implying a prolonged action that started in the past and continues to the present. "There ever was" is a reduced relative clause (there was ever life) modifying "life."

• Or she will take it all away

  ➔ Future Simple (with "will"), Phrasal Verb

  ➔ "Will take" expresses a future action, a prediction about what nature will do. "Take away" is a phrasal verb meaning to remove or deprive.

• Done the only thing you can

  ➔ Past Participle as Adjective (Elliptical Clause), Modal Verb "can"

  ➔ "Done" is the past participle of "do," functioning as an adjective describing "the only thing you can (do)." The phrase implies you have exhausted your options, "can" expressing ability or possibility.

• Now my life is in your hands

  ➔ Present Simple, Prepositional Phrase

  ➔ "Is" is the present simple tense of the verb "to be", stating a current situation. "In your hands" is a prepositional phrase indicating where the speaker's life figuratively resides.

• When you gonna learn?

  ➔ Future Simple (Contraction, Informal)

  ➔ "Gonna" is a contraction of "going to," used to express future intention. "When are you going to learn?" (When you gonna learn?). Implying a sense of frustration and questioning when someone will realize the importance of change.