I just have heard a song "Heart Don't Lie". And I'm curious to know, how has it used? grammatically.
"Heart Don't Lie"
"Heart Doesn't Lie."
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Related: http://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/39129/she-dont-know-that-shes-a-lucky-girl – Damkerng T. Nov 27 '14 at 13:23
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Can you tell us which song you are referring to? As @J.R. points out, the meaning is actually different in different songs. – oerkelens Nov 27 '14 at 14:00
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La Toya Jackson - Heart Don't Lie. – army Nov 27 '14 at 14:12
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Another related discussion: "She don't know she's beautiful." – Jasper Nov 27 '15 at 22:04
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People will often argue about the best way to describe this kind of language – colloquial, informal, non-standard, misconjugated, ungrammatical, uneducated, slang, street talk, backwoods talk – yet most natives will agree that it's perfectly acceptable in many contexts, such as informal speech, literature, and song lyrics.
Of course, the proper way to have subject-verb agreement would be to say either:
Hearts don't lie.
or:
The heart doesn't lie.
but musicians are singing about emotions, not grammar, so it "ain't" surprising to hear less-than-impeccable grammar when singers exhibit their emotions while crooning into their microphones.
J.R.
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How about it being an imperative? I don't know the song, but the only thing missing would be an arguable comma for the sentence to be grammatical by any standard. – oerkelens Nov 27 '14 at 13:47
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@oerkelens - I noticed your answer and I think that's a clever take on it. "Heart, don't fail me now!" is indeed grammatical, so, without punctuation, your idea is within the realm of possibility. As a matter of fact, the song by California Dreams seems to use the imperative structure, while the LaToya Jackson song seems to use the "informal conjugation" – so either one is plausible, I guess :^) – J.R. Nov 27 '14 at 13:59
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There are several options, and without more context we do not know which one is correct.
As it stands, the sentences is an imperative:
Heart, don't lie!
Meaning that you tell a heart that it should not lie. Compare to:
Johnny, don't sit on the grass!
If the phrase is part of a longer sentence, it could be this:
My heart doesn't lie.
That is a simple present.
In some dialects of English (and in some cases of poetic license in songs), the normal third-person form is not used. That means that you will sometimes see these sentences:
He doesn't know that.
He doesn't work here.
She doesn't like running.
as
He don't know that.
He don't work here.
She don't like running.
Keep in mind that that form is considered wrong by a lot of speakers, and certainly should be avoided in formal contexts!
oerkelens
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Yeah, I have heard MJ singing She don't believe! in his melodious track Who is it! – Maulik V Nov 28 '14 at 05:25
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He don't or He doesn't?
He doesn't would be correct. For example: He don't wanna do the dishes. This basically means: He do not wanna do the dishes. That would be incorrect.
If you use He doesn't wanna do the dishes. This would mean: He does not wanna do the dishes. This would be correct.
Major Tom
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