1. All English-speakers need to know how to write and speak standard English. The standard English book Sue Palmer

2. Standard English almost all written texts speech in formal situations. is the form of English used in: All English-speakers need to know how to write and speak standard English. * *

3. may be regional or ethnic has its own grammatical rules has its own dialect words dialect usually relates to an occupation special words and phrases used to - express technical know-how - show membership of group - exclude and mystify others jargon usually relates to an age-group special words and phrases used to - show membership of the group - exclude and mystify others slang non-standard forms that started as dialect or slang but became widespread considered to be incorrect or ‘uneducated’ use of English other non-standard English non-standard English Some types of Most people use some non-standard forms in daily life. In some social situations they are more appropriate than Standard English. Non-standard English may involve non- standard vocabulary see pages 4 – 10. It may also include non-standard grammar see page 11.

4. The subject and verb of a sentence must agree in terms of NUMBER and PERSON. regular verbs, present tense singularplural 3rd 2nd 1st PERSON I work we work you work you work he she it work they work singularplural 3rd 2nd 1st PERSON I have we have you have you have he she it has they have singularplural 1st 2nd 3rd PERSON I am we are you are you are he she it is they are singularplural 1st 2nd 3rd PERSON I was we were you were you were he she it was they were I work hard. You have won. They are sad. I was going. We were there. The class works hard. I works hard. You has won. They is sad. I were going. We was there. The class work hard. standard NUMBER the verb ‘have’, present tense NUMBER non-standard NUMBER the verb ‘be’, present tense NUMBER the verb ‘be’, past tense Collective nouns are singular. s More about agreement

5. I saw you. She did it. It broke. It came yesterday. Regular past tenses just add e d Watch out for standardnon-standard past‘perfect’ was/were be see do take saw did took have has been have has seen have has done have has taken past‘perfect’ told tell break come go broke came went have has told have has broken have has come have has gone I seen you. She done it. It’s broke. It come yesterday. work have has worked past tense irregular e d s I have seen you. She has done it. It’s broken. or

6. Double negatives are not standard English standardnon-standard You don’t know nothing. She never saw nobody. I’m not helping no more. I ain’t got none. You’re not going nowhere. They ain’t never happy. You don’t know anything. You know nothing. She didn’t see anybody. She saw nobody. I’m not helping any more. I’m helping no longer. I haven’t (got) any. I have (got) none. You aren’t going anywhere. You’re going nowhere. They aren’t ever happy. They’re never happy. any any any any I haven’t any. I have none. any

7. Pronouns have different forms depending on the jobs they are doing in the sentence. I subject object owner ‘self’ me my myself you he she it you him her it your his her its yourself himself herself itself we subject object owner ‘self’ us our ourselves youthey youthem yourtheir yourselvesthemselves SingularPlural subjectobjectownerself non-standardstandard ‘pointing pronouns’ this/these that/those For relative pronouns see The Complex Sentence Book. See The Complex Sentence Book. Dad and me went home. They asked James and I. We lost us books. He did it his self. Give me them books. Dad and I went home. They asked James and me. We lost our books. He did it himself. Give me those books.

8. Adjectives should not be used as adverbs standard non-standard She sang beautiful. He did it proper. I played good. It was real shiny. She sang beautifully. He did it properly. I played well. It was really shiny. adjectives adverbs or ‘to what degree?’(to answer the question ‘how?’ Adjectives should not be used as adverbs ) s

9. agree to (something) agree with (somebody) comment on (something) disagree with different from Certain prepositions are expected in standard English phrases, e.g. divide among (many) divide between (two) grateful to (someone) grateful for (something) similar to opposite to This differs from American Standard English: different than prepositions to with among between onto with for from to to

10. Try not to end a sentence with a preposition. There are many other conventions associated with written standard English, e.g. When listing people, it is considered polite to put yourself last. In expressions of condition or possibility, ‘were’ is used instead of ‘was’. The word ‘got’ is best avoided. Me and Tom went home. Tom and I went home. She’s worth listening to. It’s worth listening to her. It got hotter. I got there. It grew hotter. I arrived. If I was you … If I were you … to

11. Some types of vocabulary non-standard English dialect words jam butty (Northern England) jam sarnie (Southern England) jeely piece (Scotland) e.g. jargon words a shout (fire fighters) a wrap (film-makers) masthead (newspaper workers) e.g. slang words expressions of approval: cool, rad, fab, wicked e.g. colloquial words words which began as slang, jargon or dialect but are now widespread in speech, e.g. brilliant, OK, fantastic The short-hand form of words used in text- messaging is a type of written slang, e.g. u r gr8 Some non-vocabulary (especially colloquialisms) May be used in informal Standard English.

12. Written standard English varies, depending upon the level of formality. formalinformal (more like spoken language) Standard English grammar used at all times simple vocabulary (sometimes quite colloquial) use of shortened forms, e.g. can’t, should’ve many simple and compound sentences use of ‘informal’ punctuation marks ( dashes, brackets ) informal sentence connectives formal vocabulary (often multisyllabic words) no shortened forms, e.g. cannot, should have many complex sentences use of ‘formal’ punctuation marks ( colon, semi-colon ) formal sentence connectives (see The Complex Sentence Book) (See next page)

13. Or So But And In informal writing are often used to start a sentence and Sentence Connectives informalFormal Also Furthermore Moreover However On the other hand Therefore Consequently Alternatively On the other hand butsoor

14. 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.

15. End Show The End Skeleton Poster Books for GRAMMAR