Part two Formal Language and Informal Language.docx
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Part two Formal Language and Informal Language.docx
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ParttwoFormalLanguageandInformalLanguage
Parttwo
2.1FormalLanguage
AlthoughEnglishdoesnothaveastrongsetofrulesforformallanguage,speakersneedtobecarefulhowtheyspeakindifferentsituations.Formallanguageisoftenusedinofficialpublicnotices,businesssituations,andpoliteconversationswithstrangers.Formallanguagehasstrictergrammarrulesandoftenusesmoredifficultvocabulary.Forexample,
Heisgoingtothedancetonight.NOTHe’sgoingtothedancetonight.(nocontractions)
Georgehasreceivedtheletter.NOTGeorgereceivedtheletter.(usethepresentperfectmoreoften)
SheworethehatthatIgaveher.NOTSheworethehatIgaveher.(keeptherelativepronoun‘that’)
Doyouwanttogotothepark?
NOTYouwanttogotothepark?
(donotdeletewords)
Vocabularyisoftenalittledifferentaswell.
Pleaserefrainfromsmoking.(formal)
Pleasedon'tsmoke.(informal)
Youmustadheretotheseguidelines.(formal)
Youmustfollowtheseguidelines.(informal)
2.2InformalLanguage
EnglishisoftenspokeninformallyespeciallyintheStates,Canada,andAustralia.Informallanguageisallrightforfriends,co-workers,hostfamily,orservicestaff(atarestaurantforexample).Informallanguagehaslessstrictgrammarrulesandoftenhasshortenedsentences.Forexample,
Y’wannagotothedancetonight?
NOTDoyouwanttogotothedancetonight?
IdunnoNOTIdon’tknow.
Ican’tspeakEnglish. NOTIcannotspeakEnglish.
Vocabularyisoftendifferentaswell.
Thatsucks.(informal)
Thatistoobad.(formal)
That’slegit/sweet/awesome.(informal)
Thatisgreat.(formal)
2.3Hintsforchoosingmoreformalwords
Inacademicwritingyoushouldaimtobesuccinct,thus:
1.Whenpickingaword,choosethemostrelevantandspecificoneforthepointyouwishtomake;forexample:
(matchthecolorsacrosstheexamplestoseethealternativewords)
Informal
Formal
Lotsofjoblossisjustonethingresultingfromautomation.
Widespreadunemploymentisoneconsequenceofautomation.
Thecommonowlisactiveatnight.
Thecommonowlisnocturnal.
2.Alsotrytousethemostformalwayofexpressingyourpoint(thismaymeanyouuseamoretechnicalword);forexample:
jobloss
unemployment
T.V.
television
workers
employees
thesameas
equivalent
HINT:
althoughyouaimtousemoreformalwordsinacademicwriting,youshouldnotaimtoobscureyourmeaningbehindalotofimpressivewords.Ultimatelyyoushouldtrytoachievesuccinct,clearprose.
2a.Avoidusingphrasalverbssuchas'getup','putinto','findout'thatareoftenusedinspokenEnglish.Replacetheseverbswithmoreformalsingleverbssuchas'rise','contribute'and'discover';forexample:
Informal
Formal
Researcherslookedatthewaystrainbuildsuproundageologicalfault.
Researchersexaminedthewaystrainintensifiesaroundageologicalfault.
Technologycompaniesgottogetherwithstockbrokingfirmsinordertodominateinternettrading.
Technologycompaniesmergedwithstockbrokingfirmsinordertodominateinternettrading.
3.Makesurethedescriptionyouprovideisasspecificaspossible.
Lookatthecolorcodedwordsandphrasestoseethedifferencesinwordchoiceinthefollowingexamples.Theexactnessofthedescriptionhasbeenincreasedbyincludingmorespecificadjective(fiscal)aswellasadditionaldescriptivewords(highlighted);forexample:
Informal
Formal
Thegovernmenthasmadeprogressineconomicpolicy.
TheAustralianGovernmenthasmadeconsiderableprogressinimplementingfiscalpolicynationwide.
(1).Aspecificdescriptionmeansyoualsoneedtoavoidusingunsophisticatedadjectivessuchas'good','bad','big','little';forexample:
Informal
Formal
Oneofthebadaspectsofchemotherapyisthesideeffects.
Oneofthenegativeaspectsofmulti-drugchemotherapyistheuncomfortableside-effects.
(2).Alsoavoidusingadverbssuchas'really','very','just';forexample:
Informal/Spoken
Formal
Itcausedareallybigreaction.
Itcausedaconsiderablereaction.
Itcausedadramaticreaction.
Itcausedanexplosivereaction.
Noticethatinthepreviousthreeexamples,amorecomprehensivedescriptionhasbeenachievedbecauseunsophisticatedandnon-specificwordshavebeenreplacedwithmoreformaldescriptivewords.
2.4FormalandInformalWords
Differentwordsandexpressionsareappropriatefordifferentoccasions.Justasyouwouldnotwearcut-offstoawedding,youwouldnotdescribealiteraryfigureas"thepits"inapaper;todothiswouldbeinappropriatelyinformal.
Ifyouareunsureoftheaudienceandpurposeofyourwriting,maintainagenerallevelofusage.Ifyouknowtheaudienceandpurpose,thenadaptyourusagetothecontext.Keepinmind,however,thatwordsthatareeithertooformalortoocasualtendtodrawattentiontothemselvesandthusshouldservesomeconstructivepurposewhenused.
Ifyouarewritingaletterofapplication,youmightendbyusingwordssuchasthefollowing:
Ifyouhaveanyquestions,pleasedonothesitatetocall.
Youwouldnotwriteasentencesuchasthisone:
Itwouldbecoolifyou'dgivemeabuzz.
Similarly,inahistorypaper,thefollowingwouldbeinappropriate:
GeneralLeewasaregularkindofguy.
Instead,youmightwritethis:
∙GeneralLeewasanunassumingkindofleader,onewhomixedeasilywithhistroops.
Thewordsregularkindofguyaretoocasualforthepurposeofthisassignment;Thewordsunassumingkindofleaderstatethesameideainmoreappropriatewords.
Considerthecircumstancesinwhichyoumightuseeachofthefollowingwordsorphrases:
FORMAL
INFORMAL
celebration
party
momentous
important
deceased
dead
position
job
wishto
wouldliketo
onerous
difficult
beneficent
generous
misfortune
badluck
Useappropriatepunctuation.Forexample,AmericanEnglishemploysacoloninaformalletterasin“DearJohn:
”butBritishEnglishemploysacomma.Limitparentheses,exclamationpoints,anddashes(prefercolons)informalwriting.Avoidtheampersand(&);writeouttheword“and.”Punctuateyourwritingasyougoalongtoreduceyourriskofleavingoutpunctuation.
Avoidcommoncolloquialwordsandexpressions(colloquialisms),suchas"cute"(use"adorable"),"yeah,""how-do-you-do,"and"movie"(use"film"),aslistedbeloworlabeledassuchinyourdictionary.
Avoidcommoncolloquialwordsandexpressions(colloquialisms),suchas"cute"(use"adorable"),"yeah,""how-do-you-do,"and"movie"(use"film"),aslistedbeloworlabeledassuchinyourdictionary.Thisincludesslangsuchas"cool,""dude,"and"humongous."Twogoodphrasestodeleteare"youknow"and“youmightbethinking.”Youdonothavethepowertoknowyourreaders’thoughtswhiletheyreadyourpaper.Anotheremptysentenceis“Thinkaboutit.”Assumethatyourreadersarealreadythinkingaboutwhattheyarereading,andstateyourpointmoreclearly.Theadverb“pretty,”meaning“relatively,""fairly,"or"quite,”isunacceptableinallformalwritingandisoftenunnecessary.
Donotusecontractions.Notethatthefullformof"can't"isoneword:
"cannot,"not"cannot."
Trytoavoidthefirstandsecondperson.Formalwritingoftentriestobeobjective,andthepronouns"I"and"you"tendtoimplysubjectivity.Phrasessuchas"Ithinkthat"canbedeletedfromasentencewhenitisobviousthatthisistheauthor’sopinion.Usingthepronoun"I"isalmostalwaysacceptableinpersonalwriting,andthepronoun"you"isalmostalwaysacceptableinlettersandhow-to’s.Inthemostformalwriting,thepronoun“I”isreplacedbythepronoun“we”;thisisknownastheroyalweortheeditorialwe.Formalwritinggenerallyavoidsthepronoun“you”whenitreferstopeopleingeneral.
Youshouldsleepeighthourseachnight.(informal)
Oneshouldsleepeighthourseachnight.(formal)
Mostpeopleshouldsleepatleasteighthourseachnight.(formalusageallowingforexceptions)
Donothesitatetosplitaninfinitivewhenitiswarranted.Splitinfinitivesarecommoninlegalwriting,animportanttypeofformalEnglish.Infact,thesplitinfinitiveisencounteredinthemostformalofwriting.Splitinfinitivescanbeusedeveninveryformalwritingthatavoidstheactivevoice.Infinitives,alongwithgerunds,contributetoanactivewritingstyleandshowactionbutarenotactuallyintheactivevoice.Voiceisapropertyofclauses,andinfinitivesandgerundsformphrases.Splitinfinitivesaregrammaticallycorrect.Thesplit-infinitiveruleisbasedonLatin,butsplitinfinitivesactuallymakewritingmorelikeLatin,notlessso.TheRomanstendedtoplaceadverbsrightnexttoverbs,andadverbsusuallyprecededverbs.Informalwriting,adverbsalsotendtoprecedeverbsratherthanfollowthem.InLatin,CaptainKirkwouldhavesaid“audacterire”(translatedas“boldlytogo”or“toboldlygo”).Oxforddictionarysaysthat“boldlytogo”ismoreformalthan“togoboldly”;thatismostlikelybecauseoftheLatinwordorder.Theeffectivenessofthesplitinfinitivearisesfromthefactthat“to”andtheverbarelikeasingleunit.Afterall,“togo”wouldbetranslatedintoLatinasthesingleword“ire.”Foremphasis,anartistplacesalargepicturebetweentwosmallerpictures;inthesameway,anadverbbecomesemphaticwhenplacedbetween"to"andtheverb.
Donotbeafraidtoseparatetheauxiliary(helping)verbandthemainverb.
Knowwhentoendasentencewithapreposition(eveninthemostformalofEnglish).
Alwaysincludetherelativepronoun.InformalEnglish,youshouldbesuretoalwaysinclude"whom"or"which"evenwhentheyarenotessentialtoyourmeaning.Therel
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