Formal and Common is a distinction made in Linguistics.
Formal Written English - the most fixed rules, the fewest errors (laws, decrees, etc) Common Written English - looser rules, few errors (newspapers, paperbacks) Formal Spoken English - many fixed rules, frequent speaker errors (government proceedings, law) Common Spoken English - looser rules, frequent speaker errors (newscasts, television, etc) English Dialects - what you actually speak
Not perfect definitions, but enough to give you the flavor of my meanings.
What keeps English from drifting? There are social penalties for using the inappropriate version of English at the wrong time in the wrong place. (For instance, black dialects of english only have four rules that are different, but these are enough to make it very clear to a native speaker that you are using the wrong dialect.)
Thus, both you and I can be right, as the rules for formal written English (yours) differs in many ways from common written/spoken English (me). If I were writing, I would completely avoid the above usage, as that is not appropriate to the setting. If I were blogging, that would be appropriate, as blogging is not formal writing.
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Formal Written English - the most fixed rules, the fewest errors (laws, decrees, etc)
Common Written English - looser rules, few errors (newspapers, paperbacks)
Formal Spoken English - many fixed rules, frequent speaker errors (government proceedings, law)
Common Spoken English - looser rules, frequent speaker errors (newscasts, television, etc)
English Dialects - what you actually speak
Not perfect definitions, but enough to give you the flavor of my meanings.
What keeps English from drifting? There are social penalties for using the inappropriate version of English at the wrong time in the wrong place. (For instance, black dialects of english only have four rules that are different, but these are enough to make it very clear to a native speaker that you are using the wrong dialect.)
Thus, both you and I can be right, as the rules for formal written English (yours) differs in many ways from common written/spoken English (me). If I were writing, I would completely avoid the above usage, as that is not appropriate to the setting. If I were blogging, that would be appropriate, as blogging is not formal writing.