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In English, numerous grammatical constructions are in dispute. In each dispute, a significant number of English speakers identify a given construction as incorrect while a significant number of different English speakers identify it as correct. Differences in rules between formal and informal speech, and also between dialects, often enter such disputes; informal speech or non-standard dialects are sometimes simply labelled as incorrect. Correct use of a given register or dialect may be seen as markers of education, culture, group identity, or respect. Various proscriptive authorities, such as style guides and teachers, make pronouncements on the correctness of many constructions; disputes arise when these authorities disagree with each other, or with actual usage by a population of speakers.
Some of the following examples are considered by some sources to be acceptable in dialects other than Standard English or in an informal register; others consider certain constructions to be incorrect in any variety of English.
Several proscriptions concern matters mainly of writing style and clarity but not grammatical correctness:
For an alphabetical list of disputes concerning a single word or phrase, see List of English words with disputed usage.
The following circumstances may feature in disputes:
Speakers and writers frequently do not consider it necessary to justify their positions on a particular use, taking it for granted that a given use is correct or incorrect. In some cases, people believe an expression to be incorrect partly because they also falsely believe it to be newer than it really is.[23]
The difference between prescriptivist and descriptivist approaches is often described as being that the former prescribes how English should be spoken and written and the latter describes how English is spoken and written, but this is an oversimplification.[22]:5 Prescriptivist works deal with topics other than grammar, such as recommendations on style, but they may also contain statements about purported incorrectness of various common English constructions.[22]:6 Prescriptivists and descriptivists differ in that when presented with evidence that purported rules disagree with the actual usage of most native speakers, the prescriptivist may declare that those speakers are wrong, whereas the descriptivist will assume that the usage of the overwhelming majority of native speakers defines the language, and that the prescriptivist has an idiosyncratic view of correct usage.[22]:7–8 Particularly in older prescriptivist works, recommendations may be based on personal taste, confusion between informality and ungrammaticality,[22]:6 or arguments related to other languages, such as Latin.[22]:9
English is spoken worldwide, and the Standard Written English grammar generally taught in schools around the world will vary only slightly. Nonetheless, disputes can sometimes arise: for example, in India it is a matter of some debate whether British, American, or Indian English is the best form for use.[24][25]
In contrast to their generally high level of tolerance for the dialects of other English-speaking countries, speakers often express disdain for features of certain regional or ethnic dialects, such as Southern American English's use of y'all, Geordies' use of "yous" as the second person plural personal pronoun, and non-standard forms of "to be" such as "The old dock bes under water most of the year" (Newfoundland English) or "That dock be under water every other week" (African-American Vernacular English). Such disdain may not be restricted to points of grammar; speakers often criticize regional accents and vocabulary as well. Arguments related to regional dialects must center on questions of what constitutes Standard English. For example, since fairly divergent dialects from many countries are accepted widely as Standard English, it is not always clear why certain regional dialects, which may be very similar to their standard counterparts, are not.
Different constructions are acceptable in different registers of English. For example, a given construction will often be seen as too formal or too informal for a situation.
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