During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries publishers and educationalists defined a set of grammatical and lexical features which they regarded as correct, and the variety characterized by these features later came to be known as Standard English Since English had, by the nineteenth century, two centres, Standard English came to exist in two varieties: British and US. These were widely different in pronunciation, very close in grammar and characterised by small but noticeable differences in spelling and vocabulary.

A variety of Standard English can have almost any accent, but can only have a very small range

of grammatical difference from others.

Three implications are worth emphasising. First, there is no International Standard, which is not locally bound (British, American). Second, it is not related to accents (one can speak Standard English with a Chinese accent). Third, there can be disagreement about what is now standard and what is not