Name: Learn English with ARIANA GRANDE
Uploaded: 2026-01-28T17:16:46.000Z
Duration: 24 min 1 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Cause I don't wanna argue but I don't wanna bite my tongue.

Adverbs of degree

You got me misunderstood but at least I look this good.

We can't be friends, but I'd like to just be eaten.

Purse and pins, Wait until you like Wait for your love, love.

Today we're learning English with the incomparable Ariana Grande.

The song We Can't Be Friends from her newest album, Eternal Sunshine that we just saw is about the media accusing Ariana Grande of being a home record for Ethan Slater and and his ex wife, Lily J.

These were all lies, but unfortunately many people believe them.

A homewrecker, by the way, is a person who is blamed for causing a relationship or a marriage to end, usually because they had romantic involvement with one of the partners.

In this lesson we'll learn with the song and three funny interviews with Ariana.

Now, before we get started, you should know that this lesson comes with its own vocabulary flashcards covering all of the key words and expressions that we'll learn today.

Practicing with these daily is the easiest way for you to remember them forever.

So if that sounds interesting to you, just click the link down Description below to get our app and start your practice right after the lesson.

All right, let's start by looking at a few expressions from that hit song.

In the first line, she sings about not wanting to argue because I don't want to argue.

To bite your tongue means to stop yourself from saying something you want to say, usually to avoid conflict or offense.

You're literally imagining holding your tongue between your teeth to keep the words from coming out.

For example, I want to tell my boss his idea was terrible, but I bit my tongue.

Check out this other example from the Princess Switch.

Ariane is saying she doesn't want to hold back what she's really thinking, even though it might lead to an undesired argument.

To argue means to disagree with someone, usually in a heated or emotional way.

But it doesn't necessarily mean yelling or getting physical.

It's more about presenting opposing viewpoints with some intensity.

For example, they argued about politics for hours.

Let's take a look at three other words that are easy to confuse with discuss, fight, and quarrel.

Knowing the subtle differences between similar words, like this is really what separates intermediate learners from advanced ones.

In English, to discuss is simply talking about something, examining different perspectives.

It's neutral and calm, like let's discuss our vacation plans.

To fight suggests a more intense, aggressive conflict, either physical or verbal.

Finally, to quarrel is similar to argue, but often implies a petty disagreement, sometimes ongoing.

The neighbors are always quarreling about where to park.

I'd rather is a way to express a strong preference between two options.

The full structure is I would rather do X than do Y.

It means you prefer the first option so much that you choose it over the alternative.

Here Ariana is being dramatic in a poetic way.

She'd rather die than bite her tongue because holding back her feelings would be unbearable.

You can use this in less dramatic situations, too.

I'd rather stay home than go to that party.

Let's check out an example of connected speech in the song.

That's how natives cut, reduce and link words together in influenced speech.

In American English, when a T is between two vowel sounds, it usually becomes a tap T, which sounds like a soft D.

Your speaking will only improve with lots of practice.

So try to sing that line just like Ariana.

Our first interview comes from Hot Ones with Sean Evans.

On this program, celebrities eat progressively spicier and spicier chicken wings while answering questions at the start of the interview, Ariana doesn't feel so confident about her ability to handle spicy foods.

I'm not coming in proud or cocky or confident.

Haryana uses a colorful adjective to describe herself here.

When someone is long winded, they talk for a long time, often giving more detail than necessary.

It literally comes from the idea of having a long wind.

Like you can talk and talk without running out of breath.

For example, My professor is so long winded, a simple question turns into a 20 minute lecture.

Here's another example from House of Cards.

So Ariana is being self aware about her tendency to talk a lot.

By the way, I'm not coming in proud or cocky or confident.

Cocky means overly confident in an arrogant, boastful way.

It suggests someone thinks they're better than they actually are.

He's so cocky about his basketball skills, but he's not even that good.

So rather than cocky, Ariana feels shriveling.

This means becoming smaller, wrinkled, or weaker, like a plant without water or fruit drying up in the sun.

Here, Ariana is using it figuratively to describe how she feels small, weak and intimidated by the spicy food she'll have to eat.