The
standard
English
All English-speakers
book
need to know how
to write and speak
standard
English.
Sue Palmer
Standard English
is the form of English used in:
* almost all written texts
* speech in formal situations.
All English-speakers
need to know how
to write and speak
standard English.
dialect
may be regional
or ethnic
has its own
grammatical
rules
has its own
dialect words
jargon
Most people use some
non-standard forms in
daily life. In some social
situations they are more
appropriate than
Standard English.
Some types of
non-standard
English
usually relates to
an occupation
special words and
phrases used to
- express technical
know-how
- show membership
of group
- exclude and
mystify others
slang
usually relates to
an age-group
special words and
phrases used to
- show membership
of the group
- exclude and
mystify others
other
Non-standard English
may involve nonstandard vocabulary
see pages 4 – 10.
It may also include
non-standard grammar
see page 11.
non-standard forms
that started as
dialect or slang but
became widespread
considered to be
incorrect or
‘uneducated’ use of
English
regular verbs, present tense
1st
2nd
3rd
you
work
he
she works
it
NUMBER
1st
2nd
you
have
3rd
you
have
he
she
it
has
they
have
I work hard.
You have won.
They are sad.
I was going.
We were there.
The class
work hard.
The class
works hard.
Collective nouns
are singular.
More about agreement
you
are
they
are
NUMBER
the verb ‘be’, past tense
singular
plural
I was
we
were
you
were
they
were
you
were
he
she was
it
PERSON
we
have
I works hard.
You has won.
They is sad.
I were going.
We was there.
you
are
he
she is
it
3rd
I
have
standard
we
are
2nd
plural
non-standard
I am
1st
singular
they
work
plural
PERSON
you
work
singular
3rd
we
work
The subject and
verb of a sentence
must agree in
terms of NUMBER
and PERSON.
the verb ‘be’, present tense
2nd
I
work
the verb ‘have’, present tense
PERSON
plural
NUMBER
1st
PERSON
singular
NUMBER
Watch out for
past tense
irregular
non-standard
I seen you.
She done it.
It’s broke.
It come yesterday.
past
s
standard
I saw you. or I have seen you.
She did it. or She has done it.
It broke. or It’s broken.
It came yesterday.
‘perfect’
past
‘perfect’
be
was/were
have
has
been
tell
told
have
has
told
see
saw
have
has
seen
break
broke
have
has
broken
do
did
have
has
done
come
came
have
has
come
take
took
have
has
taken
go
went
have
has
gone
Double negatives are not standard English
non-standard
standard
You don’t know nothing.
You don’t know any
anything.
You know nothing.
She never saw nobody.
She didn’t see any
anybody.
She saw nobody.
I’m not helping no more.
I’m not helping any more.
I’m helping no longer.
I ain’t got none.
I haven’t
any.any
I haven’t
(got)
any.
I have
none.
I have
(got)
none.
You’re not going nowhere.
any
You aren’t going anywhere.
You’re going nowhere.
They ain’t never happy.
They aren’t ever happy.
They’re never happy.
Pronouns have different forms depending on
the jobs they are doing in the sentence.
Singular
he she
it
him her
it
subject
we
you
they
object
us
you
them
your
his her
its
owner
our
your
their
yourself
himself
herself
itself
‘self’
subject
I
you
object
me
you
owner
my
‘self’
myself
Plural
non-standard
ourselves yourselves themselves
standard
For relative pronouns see
The Complex Sentence Book.
subject Dad and me went home.
Dad and I went home.
object
They asked James and I.
They asked James and me.
owner
We lost us books.
We lost our books.
self
He did it his self.
He did it himself.
Give me them books.
Give me those books.
‘pointing
pronouns’
this/these
that/those
Adjectives should not be used as adverbs
(to answer the
s question
or ‘to
‘how?’
what) degree?’
non-standard
adjectives
standard
She sang beautiful.
She sang beautifully.
He did it proper.
He did it properly.
I played good.
I played well.
It was real shiny.
It was really shiny.
adverbs
Certain prepositions are expected in standard
English phrases, e.g.
agree to (something)
agree with (somebody)
comment on (something)
disagree with
different from
This differs from American
Standard English: different than
divide among (many)
divide between (two)
grateful to (someone)
grateful for (something)
similar to
opposite to
When listing people, it
is considered polite to
put yourself last.
Me and Tom went home.
Tom and I went home.
Try not to end a sentence
with a preposition.
She’s worth listening to.
to
It’s worth listening to her.
There are many other
conventions associated with
written standard English, e.g.
The word ‘got’ is best
avoided.
It got hotter. I got there.
It grew hotter. I arrived.
In expressions of condition
or possibility, ‘were’ is used
instead of ‘was’.
If I was you …
If I were you …
Some types of
non-standard English
vocabulary
dialect words
e.g. jam butty
jam sarnie
jeely piece
(Northern England)
(Southern England)
(Scotland)
jargon words
e.g. a shout
a wrap
masthead
slang words
e.g. expressions of approval:
cool, rad, fab, wicked
The short-hand form
of words used in textmessaging is a type of
written slang, e.g.
u r gr8
(fire fighters)
(film-makers)
(newspaper workers)
colloquial words
words which began as slang, jargon or dialect
but are now widespread in speech, e.g.
brilliant, OK, fantastic
Some non-vocabulary (especially colloquialisms)
May be used in informal Standard English.
Written standard English varies, depending
upon the level of formality.
informal
(more like spoken language)
Standard English
grammar used at all times
formal
• simple vocabulary
(sometimes quite colloquial)
• formal vocabulary
(often multisyllabic words)
• use of shortened forms,
e.g. can’t, should’ve
• no shortened forms,
e.g. cannot, should have
• many simple and compound
• many complex sentences
(see The Complex Sentence Book)
sentences
• use of ‘informal’
punctuation marks
(dashes, brackets)
• use of ‘formal’
punctuation marks
(colon, semi-colon)
• informal sentence
connectives
• formal sentence
connectives
(See next page)
Sentence Connectives
In informal writing
and But
but So
so Or
or
And
are often used to
start a sentence
informal
Formal
Also
Furthermore
Moreover
However
On the other hand
Therefore
Consequently
Alternatively
On the other hand
Pronunciation
Standard English may
be spoken in any accent.
However, accent is not
the same as careless
pronunciation. Speech
should be clear enough
for all listeners to hear
and understand.
Skeleton Poster Books
for GRAMMAR
The End
End Show