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People across the United Kingdom speak English in different ways. They have different accents and sometimes form sentences in ways that are not the same as standard English.
Have a look at some examples of standard and non-standard English and then get ready to answer some questions!
Sometimes the verb forms are different from standard English.
"We were thinking of buying a new car." (standard English)
"We was thinking of buying a new car." (non-standard English)
Using the 'double negative' is another form of non-standard English.
"I didn't do anything." (standard English)
"I didn't do nothing." (non-standard English)
"He didn't go anywhere." (standard English)
"He didn't go nowhere." (non-standard English)
Some forms of non-standard English use adjectives in place of adverbs.
"Peter played well today." (standard English)
"Peter played good today." (non-standard English)
"Jake ran quickly." (standard English)
"Jake ran quick." (non-standard English)
Speaking in non-standard English isn't really a problem, but it is really important to know what the correct standard English forms are for when you are doing a piece of writing.
Let's have a go at spotting it in the following questions.
