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"Don't cry." is universally accepted sentence form. But I also notice some books also provide "Don't you cry." Both means "not to cry". Are they all correct?

Em1
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yysur
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  • Yes. Although the implication of "don't you cry" is usually "or I'll cry too". – Elliott Frisch Jan 14 '14 at 02:43
  • Interestingly, the Guns'n Roses song Don't Cry contains "don't you cry" as a lyric more than it does just "don't cry" – T.E.D. Jan 14 '14 at 02:57
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    At least in song use, the beats being covered by that section of the lyrics are a potentially significant factor. In the Psychedelic Furs' song "India," for example, the meter would be ruined if the singer simply sang "India-ha, don't cry"; the actual phrase "don't you cry" lands on a succession of three descending notes and punctuates the emotion more powerfully. – Sven Yargs Jan 14 '14 at 04:25
  • The imperative in English speech almost always omits the implied subject pronoun [you]. [You] halt, right now! Negative imperatives often begin with don't and the implied second person pronoun is still there. Don't [you] do it! – bib Jan 14 '14 at 13:36

1 Answers1

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Don't you cry can have several meanings.

It can mean, no, not you (maybe, too?)

"There — don't you cry no more. I can't abear to see you cry." He was blinking himself.

or, emphasizing an imperative

Your daddy's rich/ And your mamma's good lookin'/ So hush little baby/ Don't you cry.

or, just a gentle personalizing and softening of the imperative.

Hush, little baby, don't you cry, Mamma's gonna sing you a lullabye

anongoodnurse
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  • Yes, the reason why I asked this question is I listened to guns n' roses' song. interesting. – yysur Jan 15 '14 at 15:03