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I know my sentence is dreadful but everyone now uses these words in this way, including my eight children aged 19—26. Yes, they are from Manchester but my husband uses he was took and he’s from Leicester.

This was never used when I was younger. Is there an easy way to explain why it is wrong, or do I have to accept it?

tchrist
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Justsalli
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    Haha silly Northerners. It's just incorrect. Sat is the past participle. You can't have "I was sat". –  Mar 06 '13 at 17:40

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"He was took" is not technically correct English. If you wrote it in an English exam (even in the North of England) you would be marked down for it. I would never recommend using it in any kind of formal communication. The same is true of "I was sat".

However "not technically correct" does not mean "isn't used", or even "shouldn't be used". All of these are common in different parts of England, and some would consider them "dialects" of English, and those terms correct within that dialect.

So my recommendation is to learn to love and understand the variant grammar, but don't use it in a job application.

DJClayworth
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  • Well, it’s certainly not Standard English, that’s for sure. Other variants of English admit different forms, of course. – tchrist Mar 06 '13 at 18:16