Why Does It Rain Cats and Dogs?
Also, will standardized tests ever except nonstandard grammar?
NOTE: Do you have a language question for John? Leave a comment, or email lexiconvalley@booksmartstudios.org, and he may answer it in a future post!
Maria Besova asks:
“When do you think bodies like Cambridge or ETS, which administer language exams, will recognize ... grammar changes? At the moment, I believe both … penalize exam takers for such usage as ‘could have went’ or ‘the ship sunk,’ even on the Speaking section of the exam, which is supposed to be more colloquial and less formal.”
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