Prepared by Prof. Tricia J. Yambao and Prof. Ma. Sheila M.

Simat

VARIETIES OF ENGLISH
STANDARD ENGLISH
Consists of correct and well-thought word choice, word order, punctuation, and spelling
A form of the English language that is written and spoken by educated users
Appropriate for:
schools (essays, papers, reports, and others)
officially typed communications
broadcasting (news, documentary, information)
publications (news, magazine, scientific, legal)
conversation with anyone other than intimates
Homogeneous in grammar, vocabulary, spelling, and punctuation
Source: Greenbaum, S. (1991). An introduction to English grammar. USA: Longman.
FORMAL
Used in formal writing and speeches and in professional and business situations
Follows rules of grammar strictly; uses longer, more complex sentences; better
organized and thought out; grammatical conventions are strictly followed:
-It uses few ellipses.
-The or alternative idea is also fully expressed.
-Contractions and sentences ending with etc. are not allowed.
-Connectives used are lengthier or more sophisticated (phrasal
prepositions or formal conjunctions).
-Figures of speech, slang, colloquialisms and idioms are avoided.
INFORMAL
Conversational/ colloquial
Used in conversations with intimates and in
informal talks
Generally used with friends and family
Can freely use idioms, figures of speech,
contractions, slang, clipped words
NONSTANDARD ENGLISH
"bad" or "incorrect" English
may reflect a speaker who is socially
inferior, lacking education, and so on
characterized as having socially marked
forms, such as ain't [and localisms like
Filipinisms]
Source: Trudgill, P. (1992). Introducing
language and society. USA: Penguin.