We change the way we communicate depending on who we are talking to and the situation. Revise what you learnt about formal and informal language: Non-Fiction and Style: Choosing the Right Text and Tone
Making your meaning clearer
Formal: in other words,...
Informal: what I mean is...
Formal: rather than...
Informal: instead of...
Formal: on the other hand,...
Informal: But...
Giving advice or suggestions
Formal: I would advise you to...
Informal: If I were you, I'd...
Formal: You ought to...
Informal: You should...
Formal: It might be better to...
Informal: Why don't you...?
Formal: I would suggest...
Informal: How about...?
Apologising and explaining
Formal: I apologise for...
Informal: I'm sorry about...
Formal: Please accept my apology.
Informal: Sorry about that.
Formal: I did not mean to...
Informal: I didn't mean to...
Expressing an opinion or disagreement
Formal: From my point of view,...
Informal: I think...
Formal: I understand your point, but...
Informal: I see what you mean, but...
Formal: I do not completely agree.
Informal: I don't really agree.
Formal and informal word choices
| Formal | Informal |
| apologise | say sorry |
| inform | tell |
| request | ask for |
| contact | get in touch |
| continue | carry on |
| discover | find out |
| postpone | put off |
| investigate | look into |
| assist | help |
| reply | get back to |
Practice: now read and listen to these two dialogues to understand how these words and phrases work in practice.
Informal dialogue
Informal dialogue
Mia: Have you heard from Josh? He says he’s still sick.
Leo: Seriously? That’s not great. I think we’re going to struggle to present on Friday.
Mia: Same. How about asking if we can put it off until Monday?
Leo: I see what you mean, but I don’t want the teacher to think we just haven’t prepared.
Mia: No, what I mean is, we can explain that two people have been ill. We could ask to move our presentation instead of changing anything for the other groups.
Leo: Yeah, that makes sense. But we should probably find out when Josh is coming back first.
Mia: I’ll get in touch with him now.
Leo: Thanks. And sorry about leaving all the organising to you this week.
Mia: Don’t worry about it. I know you’ve been busy.
Leo: Right. Let’s carry on preparing anyway, and you can get back to me when Josh replies.
Formal dialogue
Student: Could I speak to you about Friday’s presentation?
Teacher: Of course. What seems to be the problem?
Student: Two members of our group have been ill, so we are a little behind. From my point of view, giving the presentation on Monday would allow us to do a much better job.
Teacher: I understand your point, but the other groups are presenting on Friday as planned.
Student: Yes, I realise that. I would suggest moving only our presentation rather than changing the whole schedule.
Teacher: That may be possible. On the other hand, I need to make sure it is fair to the other groups.
Student: Of course. I apologise for making the request at such short notice. We only discovered this morning that one of our group members will not be back by Friday.
Teacher: That’s understandable. I’ll contact the other teacher and see what we can arrange.
Student: Thank you. Shall we continue preparing for Friday until we hear otherwise?
Teacher: Yes, please do. I’ll inform you as soon as I have an answer.