Standard English verb forms
English · Key Stage 2 · The School
Two kinds of English
STANDARD English is the form used in books, school writing and formal speech, everywhere in the country. NON-STANDARD forms are used in everyday speech in some regions — "we was", "I done it", "ain't". Both are real English. They just suit different situations, and knowing when to use each one is a real skill.
Common non-standard forms
"We was" instead of "we were". "I done it" instead of "I did it". "They ain't got none" instead of "they haven't got any". You might hear all of these in everyday talk, from people who speak perfectly clearly. In school writing, use the standard form instead, especially in an answer that will be marked.
Not wrong, just informal
Non-standard forms are not incorrect language — they follow real patterns, used by real communities, for a long time. They are simply informal, the way slang is informal. Formal writing calls for standard forms, the same way a job interview calls for smarter clothes than football practice does, without either outfit ever being "wrong" for its own occasion.
Rewrite this sentence into standard English: "We was walking to the shop when it start raining and we ain't got no umbrella." Standard version: "We were walking to the shop when it started raining and we did not have an umbrella." Three fixes: "was" to "were", "start" to "started", and the double negative "ain't got no" to a single, clear "did not have". Same meaning, formal form — exactly what a piece of school writing needs to sound right for its reader, whoever that reader turns out to be.