Non-Standard Grammar

One of the most important principles of A-Level English Language is that there is no single "correct" form of English grammar. What is considered "correct" or "standard" is a matter of social convention, not linguistic superiority. Every dialect of English has its own internally consistent grammatical system. For AQA 7702, you must be able to identify non-standard grammatical features, explain their origins and functions, and analyse them without prejudice — treating them as legitimate features of language variation rather than "errors."

Standard English and Non-Standard English

Standard English (SE) is the prestige variety of English used in education, government, law, media, and most published writing. It is important to understand that Standard English is a dialect — not an accent. It is defined by its grammar and vocabulary, not by pronunciation. Standard English can be spoken with any accent, including regional accents.

Key Definition: Standard English — the prestige dialect of English, used in formal, institutional, and published contexts. It is defined by its grammar and vocabulary, not by accent. Standard English is not inherently "better" or more "correct" than non-standard dialects — it has achieved its prestige through social, political, and historical factors, particularly the development of printing, education, and centralised government.

Non-Standard English (NSE) refers to any variety of English whose grammar or vocabulary differs from Standard English. Non-standard features are systematic and rule-governed — they are not random errors. They are features of dialect — regional or social varieties of language.

Common Non-Standard Grammatical Features

The following are some of the most common non-standard grammatical features found in British English dialects:

Verb Forms

Non-standard past tense forms: I done it (SE: I did it); She seen him (SE: She saw him); We come home late (SE: We came home late). These involve the use of past participle forms where Standard English uses the simple past, or vice versa.
Non-standard subject-verb agreement: We was there (SE: We were there); They was happy (SE: They were happy). In some dialects, was is generalised across all persons; in others, were is generalised: I were going.
Non-standard ain\'t: Used as a negative form of be, have, or do: I ain\'t going (SE: I\'m not going); She ain\'t got none (SE: She hasn\'t got any).
Non-standard do as auxiliary: In some South West dialects, do is used as a habitual marker: He do go there every day (meaning he regularly goes there).

Negation

Multiple negation (double/triple negatives): I don\'t know nothing (SE: I don\'t know anything); She never said nothing to nobody. In Standard English, multiple negatives are proscribed (prescriptivists argue they "cancel out"), but in many dialects they are used for emphasis — each negative reinforces rather than cancels the negation. This is historically the older English pattern: multiple negation was standard in Old and Middle English.
Never as past tense negator: I never did it (SE: I didn\'t do it) — used to deny a specific past action, not to mean "at no time."

Pronouns

Non-standard pronoun forms: Them books (SE: Those books) — the object pronoun them used as a demonstrative determiner.
Non-standard relative pronouns: The man what came (SE: The man who came); The thing as I told you about.
Reflexive pronoun variation: hisself (SE: himself); theirselves (SE: themselves) — these forms follow a more regular pattern (possessive + self) than the Standard English forms.
Second person plural pronouns: youse (Liverpool, Scotland, Ireland); y\'all (American South); you lot (informal British). Standard English lacks a distinct second person plural form — non-standard dialects fill this gap.

Non-Standard Grammar