Skip to content
LessonPrint

Varieties of English is a free printable Grade 5 English worksheet on recognizing dialect and register differences, aligned to Common Core standard L.5.3. It prints 8 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two students in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

Set 20 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

Next set

One paper per student

12345678910111213141516171819202122232425

Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

Varieties of English

L.5.3

NameDate

Circle the right answer.

1.In a story, a farmer says, "We're fixing to plant the corn." What does the way he speaks show?
  • A.A spelling mistake by the author
  • B.How people talk in his part of the country
  • C.That the farmer is not telling the truth
2.Which shows a difference between spoken and written English?
  • A.Speech can trail off; writing usually finishes the thought
  • B.Speech uses more commas
  • C.Writing is always formal
3.You are writing dialogue for a character from a particular place. What should guide you?
  • A.How that person would really speak
  • B.The shortest possible words
  • C.Formal written standard, always
4.Why might an author write a character's speech in dialect?
  • A.To make the story harder to read
  • B.Because dialect is the only correct way to write
  • C.To show where the character comes from and make them sound real
5.In a play, one character says "Good day to you, sir" and another says "Hiya!" What does the difference show?
  • A.They are speaking different languages
  • B.One of them has made a mistake
  • C.The two characters speak in different registers
6.Which word names how formal or informal language is for a situation?
  • A.register
  • B.dialect
  • C.rhyme
7.In a poem, the speaker says "I ain't got no fear of the dark." Why might the poet write it this way?
  • A.To give the speaker a real, local voice
  • B.Because the poet does not know grammar
  • C.To show the poem is a list
8.The narrator writes in standard English, but the characters speak in dialect. Why?
  • A.Because the narrator is not allowed to speak
  • B.So the characters' voices sound different from the narrator's
  • C.The author changed their mind halfway

LessonPrint · L.5.3 · Set 20 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Varieties of English

Set 20. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.How people talk in his part of the country
  2. 2.Speech can trail off; writing usually finishes the thought
  3. 3.How that person would really speak
  4. 4.To show where the character comes from and make them sound real
  5. 5.The two characters speak in different registers
  6. 6.register
  7. 7.To give the speaker a real, local voice
  8. 8.So the characters' voices sound different from the narrator's

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to L.5.3 of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.