LEVELS OF USAGE A nonstandard dialect is mainly spoken language

used by people in a specific social, regional, or ethnic group.

Usage is the customary way a word or grammatical
The vocabulary, pronunciations, and grammatical
construction is used in speaking or writing. Customs differ
constructions of a dialect are considered nonstandard if they
from place to place and according to the occasion. Correct
are not commonly used by the general population of
usage is language that is appropriate for the time, the place,
educated people. It is a form of English that makes use of
and the occasion.
words, pronunciations, and sentence structures not
There are two main levels of usage: standard and commonly used in standard English.
nonstandard. Standard English is used by most educated
The following passage of dialogue is from a short story by
speakers. Non- standard English is used by certain social,
Eudora Welty. It presents a very strong regional dialect.
regional, or ethnic groups for a variety of reasons. In this
chapter you will learn to recognize these levels of usage and EXAMPLE: So here come the young man Livvie wait for.... Now
to know when each is ap- propriate or inappropriate. I lay eyes on young man and it come to be somebody I know
all the time, and been knowing since he were born in a cotton
The Varieties of English
patch. -Eudora Welty
Both standard and nonstandard English have more
Slang includes words or expressions often
than one variation. Standard English can be either formal or
understood only by certain groups of people. Musicians, for
informal. Nonstandard English includes dialect and slang.
example, might refer to a musical engagement as a gig. Young
Standard English people of the 1960's might have expressed a general approval
of something by saying that it was groovy. Sometimes a slang
The way educated people use standard English varies word is used by a larger cross section of the population, but it
according to the circumstances. The kind of standard English rarely survives long enough to become standard English.
used in a serious speech, for example, is more likely to be
formal, while the kind used in casual conversation among old Slang is a nonstandard form of English that is generally
friends is more likely to be informal. colorful and expressive but short-lived.

Formal English is appropriate for most serious writing The following is from a song of the 1960's. See if you can pick
and speaking. It is not necessarily more difficult than informal out the slang expressions in the lyrics.
English, but it is used with more accuracy and precision. Note
EXAMPLE:
that formal English uses traditional standards of correctness.
It is characterized by complex sentence structures and an We breeze up and down the street.
extensive vocabulary. We get respect from the people we meet,
They make way day or night.
Notice in the following passage that the author uses
They know The "In" Crowd is out of sight.
sophisticated sentence structures and words not commonly
-Billy Page
found in casual conversation.

EXAMPLE: Five score years ago, a great American, in whose

VARYING YOUR SENTENCES
symbolic shadow we stand, signed the Emancipation
Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great When you are writing, you should always try to vary
beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been your sentences. If all your sentences are the same length or
seared in the flames of withering injustice. -Martin Luther all begin the same way, a passage may seem dull. Variety
King, Jr. holds the reader's interest.

 Informal English is often used in personal letters, on There are certain specific problems to watch for. If a
television, and in casual conversation. passage is choppy, you probably have too many short simple
 Informal English is conversational in tone. It uses a sentences. If a passage seems to ramble, you probably have
smaller vocabulary than formal English and generally too many long compound or complex sentences. If a passage
shorter sentences. seems repetitious, you may not have varied your sentence
openers and structures enough. This section will discuss ways
In the following example the author uses looser grammatical
to avoid these problems in style and achieve variety in your
constructions than would be found in formal English as well as
writing.
many contractions.
Expanding Short Sentences
EXAMPLE: I'm almost twenty now-two decades gone. I know
now that I will never be a ballerina. That's not because of any Short sentences are sometimes appropriate. A series
conscious choice, because of anything I've done, but because of short sentences, however, will often sound choppy. The
of what's been negotiated. -Joyce Maynard many pauses at the ends of the sentences will tire the reader.
You can overcome this problem by combining sentences. You
can also expand short sentences by adding details. Short
Nonstandard English sentences can be lengthened by adding details that develop
the subject, verb, or complement.
Nonstandard English is used by certain smaller
groups of people who do not follow all the rules of standard Phrases that describe, rename, or develop your basic
English. The two kinds of nonstandard English you will study ideas make for longer, more interesting sentences.
in this section are dialect and slang.
EXERCISE A: Adding Details to Short Sentences. Improve each Shorter, more readable sentences
sentence by adding the phrase in parentheses.
The snow had begun to fall early in the morning and
EXAMPLE: The river flooded the streets. (swollen by rain) by six o'clock that evening had accumulated to more than
The river, swollen by rain, flooded the streets. fifteen inches. While the weather reports predicted fifteen
more inches of snow, icy winds were blowing up to thirty
1. We must develop new sources of energy.
miles per hour, causing huge snowdrifts to form. These drifts
(to provide for the future as well as the present)
would trap some people in their homes for three days.

2. The teller counted one-dollar bills.

(slowly and tediously)
EXERCISE B: Shortening Long Sentences. Divide each long
sentence into two or more shorter, clearer sentences.
3. The bicycle rider crossed the finish line.
(followed closely by an enthusiastically cheering crowd) EXAMPLE:

4. The noise came from beneath the water. When Jerry turned the ignition key in the car, it made
(of the scuba divers salvaging the downed submarine) a clicking noise, but the motor did not start because, as the
mechanic later explained, the battery was dead.
5. The hikers returned.
When Jerry turned the ignition key in the car, he
(eager to tell about their adventure)
heard a clicking noise, but the motor did not start. As the
mechanic later explained, the car's battery was dead.
6. Beetles and aphids can destroy gardens.
(by stripping the leaves from the plants in only a few days) 1. Ants are warlike creatures, and they are natural empire
builders, so they attack weaker insects to increase the
7. Football is an exhausting game. numbers of their slaves and the size of their territory.
(even for the cheering fans in their armchairs at home)
2. The boat's crew located the sound and used radar to track
8. The paper was full of mistakes. its course through the harbor but could not identify the
(not only in spelling and punctuation, but in grammar as well) sound, and whatever lurked beneath the surface circled the
area for almost thirty minutes.
9. My aunt went on a trip to Ireland. 3. Gale-force winds buffeted the tiny seacoast village,
(originally from Dublin) including Judd Beere's old, single-masted sloop, which was
tied to the rotting town dock, and the sloop's lines strained
10. We headed toward the bank with our first paychecks. against rusty cleats until first one and then another gave way.
(with a growing sense of self-satisfaction)
4. Helen was determined to compete in the marathon and
had been training for the race for several months by
Shortening Long Sentences exercising and running one mile each morning and five miles
Just as too many short sentences can hurt the flow of each afternoon.
a passage, so can trying to put too many ideas into a few long, 5. The amount of energy that a specific food provides is
rambling sentences. If most of your sentences seem long and determined by burning the food in an instrument called a
involved, you are probably overusing compound, complex, calorimeter, which records the amount of heat given off by
and compound-complex sentences. the burning food in calories, one of which is equal to the
You can, however, learn to separate thoughts to amount of heat necessary to raise temperature of one thou-
make them clearer. You can break some compound or sand grams of water 1°C.
compound-complex sentences into two or more sentences to
achieve variety. Sometimes you may also want to break long
complex sentences into separate simple sentences, but you
should remember that most complex sentences are useful in
showing precise relationships between ideas. Remember also
that you want to achieve variety. Not all long sentences
should be divided.

Notice how the following long compound-complex sentence

seems to drag on while the thoughts become lost.

One long, involved sentence

The snow had begun to fall early in the morning and

by six o'clock that evening had accumulated to more than
fifteen inches, and while the weather reports predicted fifteen
more inches of snow, icy winds were blowing up to thirty
miles per hour, causing huge snow drifts to form, which would
trap some people in their homes for three days.

When this long sentence is broken up into several shorter

sentences, the passage becomes clearer and more readable.