C Curriculum Explorer
English·Grammar & Punctuation·procedural

Standard English Verbs

Use Standard English verb inflections in place of non-standard local forms

Suggested ages 8–9

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Learning journey

Your child is mastering more sophisticated grammar — learning to use different verb tenses correctly, understanding how adjectives and adverbs work, and using punctuation to make their writing clearer and more varied.

Evidence of understanding

  • Correct 'we was playing' to 'we were playing' and explain why the standard form is needed in writing
  • Choose the standard form in pairs such as 'I did / I done', 'she has / she have', 'they were / they was'
  • Rewrite a short passage replacing three non-standard verb forms with their Standard English equivalents

Assessment prompt

If Standard English Verbs sometimes says "we was" or "they done it" in conversation, do they know to write "we were" and "they did it" in their schoolwork — using standard written English?

Standards alignment

No external standards are linked to this topic.