Writing and Punctuation / Academic Style / Writing formally - Formal V informal expressions(1)
.docx
M
aking
your language more formal.
Informal |
Formal |
And |
In addition |
But |
however |
Enough |
Adequate |
Maybe |
perhaps |
Not enough |
Inadequate |
Really |
extremely |
So |
Consequently |
Some |
Several |
Talk about |
Discuss / examine |
Make sure |
Ensure |
Get
Get is informal, and can mean
several different things:
Phrasal verbs
Phrasal verbs (verb + particle) are very common in informal English, but are not appropriate for academic style.
Informal |
Formal |
Set up |
establish |
Go over |
Revise |
Get away |
escape |
Get on with |
Have a good relationship with |
A lot of
‘A lot of’ is too informal to use for an academic style.
Academic
|
A great deal of.. (uncountable) |
A large number of…(countable) |
Formal |
Many |
|
Neutral |
A lot of |
|
Informal |
Lots of |
|
Slang |
Heaps of |
|
Avoid abbreviations and contractions
Informal |
Formal |
Lab |
Laboratory |
Rep |
Representative |
TV |
Television |
It’s |
It is |
They’re |
They are |
Etc. |
For example, |
I.e. |
In other words, |
When writing we generally need to write in a formal style and be as concise as possible.
Avoid words like ‘stuff’, ‘things’ and ‘sort of’!
Don’t even think of using ‘gonna’ , ‘wanna’ or txt language!