Informal and Formal English

 

Do you often need to use formal English? In what situations? 

The following sentences are a mix of formal and informal. What best applies,

INFORMAL or  FORMAL?

(a) The project will be completed next year. 

(b) I showed that his arguments didn’t hold water. 

(c) I wonder why he put up with those terrible conditions for so long. 

(d) Five more tests will be necessary before the experiment can be concluded. 

(e) It is possible to consider the results from a different viewpoint. 

(f) It has been proved that the arguments so far are without foundation. 

(g) He’ll have to do another five tests before he can stop the experiment. 

(h) It is not clear why such terrible conditions were tolerated for so long. 

(i) There are several reasons why the questionnaire should be revised. 

(j) We’ll finish the job next year

There are some basic differences in formal English and these include:

1. phrasal verbs vs latin verbs

2. colloquial expressions vs formal expressions

3. contractions vs full words

4. personal pronouns vs passive voice

Let's practice in the handout!

WRITING

What kind of formal writing do you need?

What do you usually concentrate on? This video focused on some distinct formal features of written language 

Ngo answered this advertisement

And wrote this letter. How formal/informal do you consider it to be? What makes it that way?

Look at this rather ...mishappen effort of a formal letter. Work with a partner to transfer it to formal language