Taste
by Sabrina Carpenter
The phrase worth stealing is to be exact. It does no grammatical work whatsoever — it is a discourse marker, one of those small fixed expressions that make English sound like a person rather than a textbook. Learners acquire vocabulary and grammar and still come out flat because nobody teaches these. Start collecting them. The vocabulary splits oddly between the body — eyes, feet, lips, tongue — and the abstract: impression, separation, degree. Worth noticing, because those three are Latin-derived and will look familiar if you already speak a Romance language. went missin' drops its final g, exactly as spoken English does. A2 for the words, harder for the pace.
How to study this song
“Taste” carries 24 English words, 4 adjectives and 15 verb forms — 43 study entries in all, graded A2. Start with the glossary: air, clothes and degree come up again and again, so they are the ones to know first. This one leans on its verbs: 15 distinct forms against 4 adjectives, so conjugation is where the effort goes. At this level the goal is recognition: hear a word, place it, keep going.
The words of this song, in six languages
Every word below is taken from this song and translated by us. Nothing here is the lyric itself — these are the individual words you need in order to follow it.
Vocabulary
| EN | ES | IT | FR | PT | NL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| air | aire | aria | air | ar | lucht |
| clothes |
What this song teaches you
Level · A2
- Vocabulary words
- 24
- Adjectives
- 4
- Word combos
- 11
- Expressions
- 10
- Verb forms
- 21
- Quiz questions
- 35
Background
About the song
“Taste” is a sharp, hook-filled pop single by the American singer Sabrina Carpenter, released in 2024 on her breakthrough album “Short n’ Sweet”. Combining a punchy, retro-leaning pop-rock groove with witty, knowing lyrics about a lingering ex, it showcases the playful, tongue-in-cheek personality that made Carpenter one of the defining new pop stars of the year. Carpenter wrote it with Julia Michaels, Amy Allen, John Ryan and Ian Kirkpatrick, with Ryan, Julian Bunetta and Kirkpatrick producing. The horror-comedy video, directed by Dave Meyers and co-starring Jenna Ortega, takes its cue from the 1992 film “Death Becomes Her”.
Did you know?
The single reached number one on the UK Singles Chart and was a major hit in the United States and beyond. As part of her remarkable 2024 run, Carpenter became the first female artist to hold the UK’s number-one album and single at the same time while also filling the top positions of the singles chart with “Taste”, “Please Please Please” and “Espresso”.
Charts & streaming
“Taste” streamed and sold in huge numbers as one of the standout pop singles of 2024, helping drive “Short n’ Sweet” to blockbuster success. It cemented Sabrina Carpenter’s rise to the front rank of pop and remains one of her signature songs. Released on 23 August 2024, it reached two on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one in Australia and Ireland. It is certified 4× platinum in the United States, 6× platinum in Australia and 3× platinum in Britain, and has passed a billion Spotify streams.