3

So you know the trendy song "Players" by Coi Leray. I got confused when I sang her song because I'm not sure if her grammar was correct.

I just want to confirm that when referring to a group of girls or boys, it's plural, right? So we should say "Boys ARE" or "Girls ARE".

But in the song "Players", she says "'cause girls IS players too". Did she use the wrong grammar, or is there a difference in usage?

Improve this question
4
  • It's non standard. But it's common for songs to use non standard forms for effect. There are a lot of other similar questions here, but if you're interested in the grammar, "girls are" is standard.
    – Stuart F
    Feb 19 at 14:44
  • 1
    Song lyrics and so-called "correct" grammar are frequently at odds. In this battle, the songs invariably win because expression trumps fussiness.
    – Robusto
    Feb 19 at 14:45
  • I'm thinking about people who are learning english and singing this song then getting confuse especially non-speaking english countries. I remember when I was teenage I sang some songs and people just mocking and correcting, after showing the lyrics to them I was right. That's why I got annoyed to this song.
    – OWM
    Mar 4 at 11:27
  • Voting to reopen, since research might lead one to falsely conclude that this usage is incorrect (see my answer below)
    – alphabet
    May 27 at 19:41

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
14

Coi Leray is here using African-American Vernacular English (AAVE). As this article from the University of Hawaii explains, AAVE often does not follow the rules of subject-verb agreement found in other varieties of English. As this article from WSU explains, the plural present tense form of "be" is typically "is" in AAVE.

Leray's song includes a number of other elements typical of (though not always exclusive to) AAVE.

In this line the copula "is" is deleted after "he":

If he broke, then you gotta let him go

Here the word "make" does not inflect for person/number:

Yeah, the apple bottom make him wanna bite

There's a long history of people seeing AAVE as "American English but with grammar mistakes." In fact, it's a dialect of English with its own rules of grammar.

In summary: this is not a mistake. This usage of "is" is both correct and standard in AAVE.

Improve this answer

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.