Overview: What Is Nonstandard English?
Nonstandard English usage encompasses topics such as double negatives, nonstandard use of contractions, less acceptable phrases, and commonly confused words. These are all traps for the unwary on standardized tests and formal writing.
Double Negatives
While other languages such as Spanish and French form negatives with double negatives, English does not. Some double negatives are obvious, such as in the song by the Rolling Stones, “I don’t get no satisfaction.” The two negatives cancel each other out and change the meaning. In other words, Mick Jagger is actually satisfied with his lot. Words such as but (as a negative), barely, scarcely, or hardly are also negative, so using them with another negative will be a double negative. (“I didn’t hardly sleep last night” should be replaced with “I hardly slept last night” for proper usage.
Nonstandard Use of Contractions
The most common example is the word ain’t. (Even the spell-checker on the word processor flags it to replace with isn’t, am not, or aren’t). The word is not standard English usage at this time. Although the word don’t is used in standard English with first and second person pronouns, it is not standard with third person nouns or pronouns. (“Jim doesn’t have a car” rather than “Jim don’t have a car”.
Less Acceptable Phrases
There are many examples of phrases that are nonstandard. For example, being as and being that can both be replaced by because or since. Kind of and sort of can be replaced with rather or somewhat. The phrase different from is preferred to different than. A phrase such as “the fact that” is redundant. (It is also a common phrase that gets caught before a rewrite.)
Commonly Confused Words
The word accept is a verb meaning “to receive.” The word except is a preposition meaning “other than”. Similarly, the word affect is a synonym for influence, but effect is a synonym for result. The word their is possessive, there refers to place, and they’re is a contraction of they are. Too, to, and two are homonyms that are frequently confused.
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