Advanced Writing with English in Use

Styleandre gister

B Formal and informal 1.0 Vocabulary

One of the most impo rtantareas to master in termsof
register isthe differencebetween formal and informal
English.Of course,the reare many degrees of formality,
and most written English (including newspapers,
magazines andnovels)is situated somewherebetween
t he two extremes.

Here is a listof some of the most characterist ic features
that differentiate formal and informal English, followed by
somepreliminary exercises. Many furtherexercises to
practisethe useof differentregisters, and particularly to
distinguishbetweenformal and informal usage, occur
throughoutt he rest of thebook.

A Origin

Why aresome English wordsconsideredto be more

polit e or refined,w hereasotherswhich meanthe same

thingarethought rude or vulgar?

English vocabularycomprises wordstakenfrommany

languages ,particularlyAnglo-Saxon,FrenchandLatin. In

1066 the Anglo- Saxon inhabitantsof Britainwere

conquered by the French -speaking Normans. AsFrench

was thelanguage of the ruling classes (andLatin the

languageof education),wordsderivedfromFrenc h or

Latinhave been consideredmore formalt han those

derivedfromthe languageof theAnglo-Saxons.

The tablebelow compares relativelyformalwords of

Latin/ Frenchorigin withtheir lessformalalternatives

manyof Anglo-Saxon origin.It i s an illustrationof a '

generaltende ncy,not a conversiontable:the choice of

vocabularyalways dependson the context. Supply the

missingwords.

verbs NOll/ls

todepart togo car nivo re meat-eater

to retain putre faction

tocease deficiency

to fu nction vision

tom asti cate" residence

to dem onstrate respiration

to reside somnambulist

to seem comprehension

to shorten perspiration

to end

to help A(ljectit:es

to begin in correct w rong

towant umiuhlc

to get vacant

to free insane

tocat inexpe nsive

lis'e1y

Adcerbt als hetter

subsequent ly next / later childis h

principally e nough

so w hole

at first olde r

in the end

Fonnal

\VordsofLatin/ Fren ch
origin
Single-wordverbs

For malconnectingwords
Imp e rson al const ructions
itis sa i dth at
th epricehasbeeninc reased
olle neverknows

Abstr actnouns

Is happinesslJOssibleduring
1l1lcmp!oy", cllt?
Aftercl(//ificaliollojthe
proble m arcas...

N ote ndingwithpre position;

lise ofuilunu

To11:110111,,;erey OIlspeakillg?

Complexsentences

Useofinversio nfor

conditionalsandemphasis

Should'JOIlrequirefurther

iufonllatio l',niease

contac t...

No contraction sinwriting

I reill,Ice Icould

Infonnal

\Vo rdsofAng lo -Si.l'\on

origin

Phrasalverbs .idiom swith

get

Inf o r mal conne ctingwo rds

Active co nstru ctions

theysay that

thelJ'r;ep u!the pricelip

yOIlnev erknow

Mod ulverbs , adjectives ,

clauses, etc.

Can peoplehe happyuihcn

theyhucen'tgot ajoh?

\\'henthe hitsccenJ01lC!cas

getti ngIcn mgIwdbeen

explained.. "

Ending with p reposition

\ V//olvcrcyOIls]Jcakitigto?

Simple sentences

Inversionsome times used

fore mphasis

OlilythendidIrealize.

C ontractions in w riting

I ll, uie 'd

Fo n n al Informal Forma l Infnnnal

14 • Writingsub-s kills

° Bodilyfunctionsarea llarea whe rethedifferenceor formali tv is

particularlymarked..

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