LIN204H5 Study Guide - Final Guide: Interrogative Word, Standard Written English, Hypercorrection
PART 2
-The sentence "There was no reason for me to refuse the offer" is grammatical and does
not violate any prescriptive rules of English (Standard English).
-The sentence "My neighbour elderly down the stairs fell on Wednesday” is
ungrammatical. Words need to be grouped in meaningful ways. In English, the order
given in the sentence above is not possible and is therefore ungrammatical.
-"Pronounciation" (as in "Maurice is working on his pronounciation of Italian words") is
not considered to be a Standard English spelling. Dictionaries list the word as
"pronunciation". This may change; language is always changing. Written language may
change more slowly than spoken language, but what is considered to be standard in
written language can also change.
-Languages are always changing. Speakers use language in different ways to meet their
needs. For example, the recently created words used to explain things relating to
computer technology and the Internet.
-It is useful to master standard English because it is the language used in most formal
interactions, it enables one to easily handle the language of books, newspapers,
magazines, and public institutions, and it gives one access to power through education
and professional advancement.
-Based on the variety that a particular speaker uses, you may be able to guess their
socioeconomic class, their age, their level of education, and where they live or perhaps
where they grew up. The variety that a person uses can hold characteristics of regional
dialects and/or social dialects.
-When an adult native speaker of English asks: “Whom did you say is calling?”, this is a
case of hypercorrection because the interrogative pronoun “who” is the correct form, not
“whom”, since the pronoun functions as the subject of the sentence. “Whom did you say
is calling?” is ungrammatical.
-"Standard English requires 'between you and me', yet many English speakers say
'between you and I'." This observation is an example of a descriptive approach to
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