搜索
FormalandinformalPrequestionsfordiscussions:1.Asareader,whyyoufindsomeessayseasytoreadwhileothersmaydifficulttoread?2.Whatisformalandinformalwordsandstyle?3.Whenshallweusetheseformalandinformalwordsandstyles?4.AsanEnglishlearner,doyouthinkweshouldbeinclinedtousingmoreformalwordsandstyles?FormalandinformalFormalandinformalwordsand/orlanguageofEnglishshouldbothbelearned.Formallanguageisusuallyusedintermpapers,researchpapers,reports,memos,minutesofmeeting,andbusinesslettersetc,inwhichcase,formalstyleoflanguageshouldbeused.Formallanguageissometimescalledwrittenoracademiclanguage.FormalandinformalOntheotherhands,informalwritingassumesapersonalstance.Itsuggestcloseconnectionsamongwriter,reader,andsubject.Informalwritingisusuallyusedindailyconversations,notes,messages,personalletters,postcardsetc.FormalandinformalTheEnglishthatyoushouldusewhenwritingapaperorthesisshouldbeformal(likealegaldocument)butalsoclear(unlikealegaldocument).TherearecertainthingsthatcanbedoneinspokenEnglishorinwrittenEnglishinnewspapers,magazines,orlecturenoteswhicharenotappropriateforformalwriting.Formalandinformal•1.Don'tstartasentencewith`And',`Also',`But',`So',`Or',`Evenso'.Insteaduse`Inaddition',`However',`Hence',`Consequently',`Alternatively',`Nevertheless'.•2.Don'tstartasentencewith`Therefore'.Insteadwrite,forexample,`Wetherefore...'.•3.Don'tstartasentencewith`Then'or`Now'unlessitisacommand.Formalandinformal•4.Don'tuse`don't',oranyothershortenednegativesuchas`isn't',`hasn't',`wasn't',etc.Use`doesnot',`isnot',etc.instead.•5.Generallytrytoavoid`'s'.E.g.•Insteadof`thewavefront'scurvature'useeither`thecurvatureofthewavefront'or`thewavefrontcurvature'.•But,thereareexceptionstothis.e.g.•`today'sstockmarketprices'isbetterthan`thestockmarketpricesoftoday'.Formalandinformal6.Don'tuse`!'or`&'or`/'.Itisalsoveryunusualtosee`?'inapaper.Don'tputquestionsinapaperunlessyoureallyknowwhatyouaredoing.Formalandinformal•7.Don'tusee.g.ori.e.oretc.•8.Whenreferringtothenumberofcountableobjects,usewordsratherthanfigureswhentheamountislessthantwenty.E.g.Don'twrite``weused3methods''-insteadwrite``weusedthreemethods''.•9.Don'tuse`OK'.Use`acceptably',`permissible',`satisfactory',etcinstead.Formalandinformal•10.Don'tuse`got'.Insteaduse`obtained'.•11.Ifyoucan,trytousethepassivevoiceforoccasionallywhendescribingyourresults.Using`we'ineverysentenceisabitboring.•12.Listthingsproperlyusing`and'betweenthelasttwoitems.•E.g.Don'tdo`weusedthreemethodsA,B,C.';Instead,writeeither`weusedthreemethods:A,B,andC.'or`weusedthreemethods,namely,A,B,andC.'Formalandinformal13.Donotusefirst-personpronouns(I,me,my,we,us,etc.).TrytoavoidIthinkthat,Ibelievethat,orinmyopinion.Simplydeletetheseexpressionsfromsentences,andyouwillbeleftwithstrongersentences.ExampleIthinkthatthischaracterisconfused.Thischaracterisconfused.(Thesecondsentenceislesswordy,soundsmoreformal,andconveysamoreconfidenttone.)FormalandinformalOne,thereader,readers,theviewer,orsimilartermsaresometimeseffectivetoreplace“I,We”ExampleIcansensethecharacter'sconfusion.Readerscansensethecharacter'sconfusion.Formalandinformal•13.Avoidaddressingreadersasyou.•Addressingreadersusingsecond-personpronouns(you,your)canmakeanessaysoundinformalandcanbringassumptionsintoanessaythatarenottrue.Example:Ifyouwearatubetop,guysmightthinkthatyouareeasy.IwonderedwhythestudentwouldthinkthatI,amale,wouldwearatubetop.Aswithfirst-personpronouns,second-personpronounscanbereplacedbywordssuchasone,thereader,readers,andtheviewer.Formalandinformal•14.Avoidtheuseofcontractions.•Contractionsareshortenedversionsofwordsthatuseapostrophesinplaceofletters,suchascan't,isn't,she's,andwouldn't.Themoreformal,non-contractedversionsarecannot,isnot,sheis,andwouldnot.•ExampleThecharacterisn'tawarethathe'ssurroundedbypeoplehecan'ttrust.Thecharacterisnotawarethatheissurroundedbypeoplehecannottrust.Formalandinformal•15.Avoidcolloquialismandslangexpressions.•Colloquialdictionisinformallanguageusedineverydayspeechandincludessuchwordsasguys,yeah,stuff,kindof,okay,andbigdeal.Highlyinformaldiction,suchasfreakoutanddissing,fallsintothecategoryofslang.Formalandinformal•Whileslangwordsoftenarevividandexpressive,slangcomesandgoesquickly,anotherreasonwhyslangshouldbeavoidedinformalwriting.Bothcolloquialismandslangexpressionsconveyaninformaltoneandshouldbeavoidedinformalwriting.•ExampleTheguywasnailedforrippingoffaliquorstore.Themanwasconvictedofrobbingaliquorstore.Formalandinformal•16.Avoidabbreviatedversionsofwords.•Forexample,insteadofwritingphoto,phoneandTV,writephotograph,telephone,andtelevision.Formalandinformal•17.Avoidtheoveruseofshortandsimplesentences.•Whilethewritermightuseformaldictioninsuchsentences,toomanyshortandsimplesentencescanmakeanessaysoundinformal,asifthewriterisnotrecognizingthattheaudienceiscapableofreadingandunderstandingmorecomplexandlongersentences.Shortandsimplesentencescanbeusedeffectivelyinformalwriting,butheavyrelianceonsuchsentencesreflectspoorlyonthewriterandgivesthewritinganinformaltone.FormalandinformalInthefollowingpages,youwillfindhowtherulesabo