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Is there any situation in which disagreement between subject and verb is acceptable?

For example, I heard this song

... 'Cause it's late and your mama don't know ...

I think it's used in informal contexts. Am I right?

Rwy5
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    I wouldn't call this a "disagreement", just a non-standard pattern of agreement. In dialects that have this, "don't" can be used with any 3rd-person singular subject, like "he don't know." – herisson Aug 17 '15 at 21:25
  • I don't see how the referenced question is the same. That question asks, "Is this an error?" This question asks, "Is it acceptable to have this category of error?" That's not the same thing at all. – Jay Aug 17 '15 at 21:32
  • Reopening and closing as a dupe of the canonical question instead. Please search the site before asking. Thanks. – RegDwigнt Aug 17 '15 at 21:34

2 Answers2

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It depends what you mean by acceptable. In certain cultures some people don't like to use correct grammar in case their friends mock them for it.

If you are talking about the English used in education, business and so on then you should use verbs correctly.

Note that even informal contexts differ. I would never say "your mama don't know" no matter how informal I was being. For other people it would be normal speech.

chasly - supports Monica
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  • Your use of the word "correct" implies that you are talking about fashion (or 'etiquette', as some would call it): a set of social rules for deciding whether people behave according to the norms of the favoured group or not. As I said, in many varieties of English "he don't" is grammatical. As you imply, using the "wrong" variety of English for the social context may get you into difficulties. – Colin Fine Aug 17 '15 at 21:49
  • In certain cultures people use different grammar. "Your mother don't know", in the above song, is entirely consistent with its contextual grammar. – Margana Aug 17 '15 at 21:50
  • @ColinFine - It depends what you mean by 'difficulties'. I'm not really sure of the point you are making. Prejudice exists in human nature and talking the 'wrong' way can cause problems. – chasly - supports Monica Aug 17 '15 at 21:52
  • The point I am making is that "correct" is entirely a social judgment, and is out of place in linguistic discussion (except explicitly sociolinguistic discussion), I object to it because of the connotation that non-standard varieties are wrong or inferior. – Colin Fine Aug 17 '15 at 21:57
  • @Margana - I said that in my final sentence. – chasly - supports Monica Aug 17 '15 at 21:58
  • @Chasly: I took your first two paragraphs to say that there is a correct grammar. Which I took to imply that other "grammars" are "incorrect". So, in your last sentence, I assumed you to say that "the other people" were using "incorrect" grammar. I'm sorry if I misunderstood, bro. – Margana Aug 18 '15 at 08:50
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As you've already identified, it's acceptable in song lyrics, but you've to bare in mind the song's writer probably didn't give a hoot about subject-verb agreement; they're more concerned with what sounds good or fit the mold for the rhythm of that particular song. Change "don't" for "doesn't" in your example, and you'll see what I mean.

In any type type of writen prose, writing which is intended to communicate a message, it's not standard practise to misalign subjects and their finite verbs, except perhaps in direct speech when you're trying to convey the informality of a fictional character or a person being interviewed, etc.

That's my take on it, anyway.

Sean
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  • On the contrary, the lyricist wrote fully grammatical English. It is just that the variety of English in which they were writing has different rules from various standard Englishes. "He don't" is grammatical in many varieties of English (including upper-class British English of the 1880's). – Colin Fine Aug 17 '15 at 21:49