Hi and welcome back to love English I'm Leila and today I'm going to help you
understand the difference between formal and informal English a little bit better
now here's the thing, there is spoken English or colloquial English this
includes things like phrasal verbs idiomatic expressions and of course
slang and then there is more formal English this includes not using
contractions using more formal vocabulary and expressions and grammar
there's even more formal structures and sentences that you can use in English to
be more formal more polite more academic more businesslike
and of course it means not using too many phrasal verbs and definitely not
using slang now when do you need to use formal English well there are lots of
situations at my university where I teach of course it is very important to
know how to write in formal English to know how to structure an essay or a
report and then of course there's seminars presentations where you need to
make sure you show yourself in a formal manner abiding by academic and formal
English language conventions and then in business situations formal English is
essential whether you're having a meeting with colleagues giving a
presentation or of course writing letters and emails you need to know how
to write and speak in formal British English so in today's lesson I'm going
to share with you some common words that you would use in spoken English and give
you the more formal equivalent this is a series of lessons that we will be going
through to help you understand the difference between formal and informal
English so if you haven't already make sure you click that subscribe button and
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let's get started formal versus informal expressions and vocabulary let's go
so the words I'm looking at today are verbs they are referring to actions of
some sort and I imagine that the informal word you would be very familiar
with these are probably some of the first words you learned when you began
your English language journey so let's get started number one find out find out
now find out is of course a phrasal verb and it is very commonly used in English
she wanted to find out his number however informal English discover or
ascertain ascertain discover would be more neutral ascertain would be very
formal I need to ascertain exactly what was said in the meeting free in this
case we're saying not free to buy it doesn't cost anything but we're talking
about freeing someone so release release would be the formal equivalent she freed
the bird she released the bird she freed the press release new new new can you
release the press release she freed the figure's she released the figures she
released the figures yet oh yes the most or one of the most common words in the
english language to get but it is very much a word that we speak and in
academic and of course business english you wouldn't want to keep using get it
doesn't sound particularly formal or educated so better to use obtain obtain
you wouldn't say can you obtain me a coffee but you would ask someone to
obtain figures or data for you get me a coffee i obtained the funds i obtained
the money get in touch get in touch get in touch with somebody can you get in
touch with the other manager of the department no better in formal english
to say can you contact can you contact him please come in actually more formal
enter enter if you're giving this as an instruction be careful because could
also sound a little bit too strong to use enter sounds more like an
instruction being bossy you say come in great if you
tell someone to enter it's almost like you're going to punish them or tell them
off what time did she enter the meeting go against she went against him she
disagreed with him a pose she opposed him she opposed him she went against his
idea she opposed his proposal for an earlier meeting two that are very
similar here go down and go up simply it is much better to say increase and
decrease increase and decrease for any of you studying IELTS and doing the part
one then you know you need to refer to graphs and bar charts and you should be
using the numbers increased or the numbers decreased not went down or went
up now in a letter in an email you would write it concerns this concerns in a
text message you would probably write it's about I need to talk to you about
whereas formal English I need to talk to you concerning I need to talk to you
concerning I need to talk to you concerning the proposal you put on my
desk yesterday texting I need to talk to you it's about the proposal formal
versus informal another verb that you would commonly use to buy I bought some
sunglasses formal English purchase purchase you wouldn't say I purchased a
pair of sunglasses but if you're in an academic situation you might refer to
the number of purchases you might say it's popular to purchase the new iPhone
keep keep the information or informal English retain retain the information or
retain the funds the money we'd say funds rather than referring to money
that's another one there formal versus informal so funds money retain keep the
money retain the funds to leave out I think you should leave that out of the
report more formal I think you should admit that omit that from the report to
leave out to let or allow she let me in she let me
the funds or she permitted me to retain the funds she permitted me to retain the
funds permit someone you do need a pronoun there or a noun referring to the
object she permitted me to do something look at I think we need to look at the
figures again in more formal English examine examine I think we should
examine those figures again make up no not the stuff that I put on my face when
you're referring to creating a story that isn't true she made up a lie in
this case we would say fabricate to fabricate something she fabricated a
story explaining why she was late to work in fact she'd been drinking the
night before to make up to fabricate need-need - I really need to go to the
toilet normal English informal English require I need you to get the report on
my desk by five o'clock I require the report by five o'clock require point out
she pointed out the mistake in my presentation indicate indicate she
indicated there was a mistake in my presentation and in more formal English
it might be better to use the word error error doesn't sound as strong as mistake
to put off another phrasal verb I think we need to put off the meeting until
tomorrow how about delay delay exactly the same
way we would not use call off call us we would say cancel cancel the meeting we
need to cancel the meeting so again phrasal verbs with their more
formal equivalent put up I had to put up with my boss being really rude in the
meeting another phrasal verb but in fact the formal equivalent to tolerate (TOLERATE) ONE L (editing error in video)
I tolerate my boss's behavior I tolerate his behavior ring up ring up you
wouldn't use ring up you would use simply call she rang me up or she called
me not a big difference there compared to some of the others but again it can
make a big difference in a more formal business
situation say sorry I'm so sorry nothing wrong with the word sorry very
powerful word great if you mean it but in more formal English if you're writing
a letter you might use the word apologise apologise
so to apologize I apologise is the verb an apology
is the noun my apologies using the noun there or I apologise but better than
using sorry in formal situations seeing you really seem a little bit tired today
nothing wrong with that in natural spoken English or in a text message but
in more formal academic situations you would probably use the verb appear
appear you appear a little tired set up he set up a business great phrasal verb
really nice if you know it academic English formal business English
established he established his business in 2005 or he set up he began the
business he started it in formal English the graph shows there is an increase in
the number of people buying coca-cola the graph illustrates the graph
illustrates there is an increase in the number of people buying coca-cola so
illustrates more formal great for IELTS guys show up what time did she show up
or what time does she turn up again these phrasal verbs are so commonly
spoken than when it comes to writing them it seems the natural thing to do
when you are writing even in academic and formal situations much better to say
arrive arrive start simple word easy enough to use nothing wrong with using
it but more formal more academic commence commence you'll often hear this
in more formal situations like with the Olympics they'll talk about an event
commencing rather than starting it just sometimes it sounds a little bit more
formal and appropriate the meeting commenced at 10 o'clock think about
really common it's so common that of course you really need to think about
what would be the more formal equivalent consider
consider what are you considering what options are you considering more formal
who must have got the word live so simple but in fact we've got a more
formal equivalent reside reside where do you reside quite unusual I would say
that reside would more commonly be used in written formal English than spoken it
does sound a bit strange to even say it you wouldn't ask someone where they
reside and of course the noun is residence resident so do pay attention
to the connection in those words the word families
what's the noun what's the verb to reside - the verb residence is the place
where you live argue argue we do have quite a few different words for argue
but ultimately disagree would be one of the easiest and quarrel might be another
nice one to use they had a disagreement or they were disagreeing over the issues
and finally I'm gonna leave you with one more verb help help
nothing wrong with that but of course in business and at a university you'll
often require help but instead you can use assist (ASSIST) can I assist you could I be
of some assistance so to assist is the verb and assistance
is the noun and we could use both of these slightly different ways but
certainly when it comes to writing formal English you would use assist and
assistance and that's it guys just a few words for you there but hopefully you'll
be able to think a little bit more about the difference in the vocabulary you use
when you're writing informal English whether that is for university or a
business situation or of course if you need to write a letter of complaint or a
serious letter that needs to deal with an issue using formal English is
essential people will take you more seriously think you are more educated
and have a better grasp of the English language but we do realise just how
tricky it is to navigate the differences between formal and informal English so
this is just the first of many lessons helping you understand those differences
improving your spoken English and of course your writing
so have a go comment below try using some of the new formal words I have
taught you I'm sure you can do it and if I can be of any assistance comment below
thanks for watching bye