Big Love ... small grammar error?

[DownOnRodeo]

You said that you loved me,
And that you always will.

Has this ever bothered anyone else? Unless it's:
..And that you "always will".
..then this is incorrect grammar, isn't it?

It's always bugged me, but now I wonder what the people who were irked by the new Smile At You chorus think.

[darklinensuit]

To me the worst offenses are:

"DrownDed" in "The Nightmare" - but I love the vocal so much it's grown on me.

"So many different kind(S) of people" in "Races are Run" - which might not be so easy to notice if the song were not so slow.

"Well, I wonder which set of rooms ARE mine" in "Affairs of the Heart" - which is not a favorite Stevie song of mine anyway.

As far as "Big Love", he needed a verb that rhymes with "hill" and got one.

- Jake

[CarneVaca]

Hmm... I always thought he was singing in the present tense, in which case "will" is fine. Otherwise it would have been more grammatically acceptable to say "would."

[DownOnRodeo]

I guess it could be either way; even though it still rubs me as incorrect when he says "that you always will".

You said that (past)___you loved (past) me
You said that (past)___you always will (nonpast).

:confused:

[CarneVaca]

Rodeo, from a grammar standpoint, "that you always would" would be the most accurate, if indeed he is saying "said."

However, I just took a listen to the Tango version, and he seems to be singing, "say," not "said." I don't have the Dance version here at work so I wasn't able to check.

Be that as it may, you could still utter a sentence in the following manner without stepping too badly all over the English grammar:

I said yesterday that I will always love almonds.

It's acceptable, but not perfect. However, if I said it this way:

I said yesterday, I will always love almonds.

That is a perfectly grammatical sentence. In this case I am quoting myself. I might have put the quotation marks around the "I will always love almonds" statement, but it is not absolutely necessary. Really, what trips up Lindsey's line, if indeed he was using the past tense for the verb "to say" is the use of "that." Otherwise it would have been too ambiguous to determine with any finality whether he booted the English grammar.

[ERigby818]

I agree. It's correct if he says "say"[that you love me]. But I can't tell if he says "say " or "said," lol. The Smile At You grammatical goof really does bug me...especially since it's not a mystery anymore now that I have the lyrics in the booklet. I was hoping it was "fast as I came" which would still sort of make sense and be slightly more gramatically correct. Oh Well. I'm trying to think of some other FM grammar gafs. I'll be back if I think of any ;)
-Sonia

[sodascouts]

Originally posted by DownOnRodeo
You said that you loved me,
And that you always will.

Has this ever bothered anyone else? Unless it's:

..then this is incorrect grammar, isn't it?



Yep - he's mixing his tenses.

Correct: You said that you loved me, and that you always would.

or: You say that you love me, and that you always will.

[sodascouts]

Originally posted by CarneVaca


Be that as it may, you could still utter a sentence in the following manner without stepping too badly all over the English grammar:

I said yesterday that I will always love almonds.

It's acceptable, but not perfect. However, if I said it this way:

I said yesterday, I will always love almonds.

That is a perfectly grammatical sentence. In this case I am quoting myself. I might have put the quotation marks around the "I will always love almonds" statement, but it is not absolutely necessary. Really, what trips up Lindsey's line, if indeed he was using the past tense for the verb "to say" is the use of "that." Otherwise it would have been too ambiguous to determine with any finality whether he booted the English grammar.

Actually, this wouldn't quite work. If Lindsey were quoting his woman, he would have to say, "You said yesterday, 'I love you'" not "You said yesterday, 'you love me.'"

[CarneVaca]

Hmm... good catch, Nancy. My example doesn't really apply then. I think all those almonds made me sluggish.