Standard English is the form of English generally used throughout the English-speaking world in education, the law-courts and government bodies, the media, and in all other forms of formal speech and writing.

It consists of those elements of vocabulary and grammar (not pronunciation) that are recognized and used by English-speakers across regional and national divides, although there is in fact no single regional community whose language conforms to it entirely, the language of each community having its own variance to a greater or lesser degree.

We can, then, only really say that a particular word or construction is or is not Standard English. Those words or constructions that are not Standard English are non-standard, which is not to say substandard or inferior. There is no difference in 'correctness' between I ain't done nothing and I seen it on the one hand, and I haven't done anything and I saw it on the other. Where they differ is in appropriateness: I ain't done it yet would be inappropriate in a business letter, but perfectly acceptable in informal speech.

Standard English is the form of English generally used throughout the English-speaking world in education, the law-courts and government bodies, the media, and in all other forms of formal speech and writing.

It consists of those elements of vocabulary and grammar (not pronunciation) that are recognized and used by English-speakers across regional and national divides, although there is in fact no single regional community whose language conforms to it entirely, the language of each community having its own variance to a greater or lesser degree.

We can, then, only really say that a particular word or construction is or is not Standard English. Those words or constructions that are not Standard English are non-standard, which is not to say substandard or inferior. There is no difference in 'correctness' between I ain't done nothing and I seen it on the one hand, and I haven't done anything and I saw it on the other. Where they differ is in appropriateness: I ain't done it yet would be inappropriate in a business letter, but perfectly acceptable in informal speech.

Standard English is the form of English generally used throughout the English-speaking world in education, the law-courts and government bodies, the media, and in all other forms of formal speech and writing.

It consists of those elements of vocabulary and grammar (not pronunciation) that are recognized and used by English-speakers across regional and national divides, although there is in fact no single regional community whose language conforms to it entirely, the language of each community having its own variance to a greater or lesser degree.

We can, then, only really say that a particular word or construction is or is not Standard English. Those words or constructions that are not Standard English are non-standard, which is not to say substandard or inferior. There is no difference in 'correctness' between I ain't done nothing and I seen it on the one hand, and I haven't done anything and I saw it on the other. Where they differ is in appropriateness: I ain't done it yet would be inappropriate in a business letter, but perfectly acceptable in informal speech.