Formality

[omry3]

FormalityIn general this means in an essay that you should avoid:

a. colloquial words and expressions; ""stuff", "a lot of", "thing", "sort of",

b. abbreviated forms: "can't", "doesn't", "shouldn't"

c. two word verbs: "put off", "bring up"

d. sub-headings, numbering and bullet-points in formal essays - but use them in reports.

e. asking questions.
Try the following exercises

1. Colloquial words and expressions, 2. Abbreviations, 3. Two-word verbs, 4. Formal/Informal

Colloquial words and expressions


Exercise 1

Identify the informal expressions in the following sentences. Rewrite the following sentences, replacing the informal expressions with a more formal *****alent.

1. With women especially, there is a lot of social pressure to conform to a certain physical shape.
2. Significantly, even at this late date, Lautrec was considered a bit conservative by his peers.
3. It focused on a subject that a lot of the bourgeois and upper-class exhibition-going public regarded as anti-social and anti-establishment.
4. Later Florey got together with Paul Fildes in an experimental study of the use of curare to relieve the intractable muscular spasms which occur in fully developed infection with tetanus or lockjaw.
5. When a patient is admitted to a psychiatric inpatient unit, the clinical team should avoid the temptation to start specific treatments immediately.
6. Therefore after six months the dieter is behaving according to all twenty-six goals and she has achieved a big reduction in sugar intake.
7. Modern houses have so many labour-saving things that it is difficult for the person at home to have adequate exercise by doing chores, cooking, and looking after a family.
8. Simply making the effort to reclaim this wasted stuff for fertilizer would have a positive effect on greenhouse releases.
9. It is difficult to imagine exactly what is meant by saying that such a classification is natural as any collection of things could be classified in this way.
10. Unfortunately, since there are so many possible explanations, the correct one is most difficult to find out.
11. These exercises can easily be incorporated into an exercise routine, with each exercise done again a number of times.
12. Fleming did well in isolating a streptococcus from the cerebrospinal fluid of the patient.
13. Effective vaccines prevent such hazards, but only if a social organisation makes sure that all potential mothers are vaccinated in good time.
Press this button to check your answers:

Avoiding informal language - answers
1. With women especially, there is a great deal of social pressure to conform to a certain physical shape.

2. Significantly, even at this late date, Lautrec was considered somewhat conservative by his peers.

3. It focused on a subject that much of the bourgeois and upper-class exhibition-going public regarded as anti-social and anti-establishment.

4. Later Florey collaborated with Paul Fildes in an experimental study of the use of curare to relieve the intractable muscular spasms which occur in fully developed infection with tetanus or lockjaw.

5. When a patient is admitted to a psychiatric inpatient unit, the clinical team should avoid the temptation to commence specific treatments immediately.

6. Therefore after six months the dieter is behaving according to all twenty-six goals and she has achieved a considerable reduction in sugar intake.

7. Modern houses have so many labour-saving devices that it is difficult for the person at home to have adequate exercise by doing chores, cooking, and looking after a family.

8. Simply making the effort to reclaim this wasted material for fertilizer would have a positive effect on greenhouse releases.

9. It is difficult to imagine exactly what is meant by saying that such a classification is natural as any collection of objects could be classified in this way.

10. Unfortunately, since there are so many possible explanations, the correct one is most difficult to ascertain.

11. These exercises can easily be incorporated into an exercise routine, with each exercise repeated a number of times.

12. Fleming succeeded in isolating a streptococcus from the cerebrospinal fluid of the patient.

13. Effective vaccines prevent such hazards, but only if a social organisation ensures that all potential mothers are vaccinated in good time



Avoiding informal language - answers
1. With women especially, there is a great deal of social pressure to conform to a certain physical shape.

2. Significantly, even at this late date, Lautrec was considered somewhat conservative by his peers.

3. It focused on a subject that much of the bourgeois and upper-class exhibition-going public regarded as anti-social and anti-establishment.

4. Later Florey collaborated with Paul Fildes in an experimental study of the use of curare to relieve the intractable muscular spasms which occur in fully developed infection with tetanus or lockjaw.

5. When a patient is admitted to a psychiatric inpatient unit, the clinical team should avoid the temptation to commence specific treatments immediately.

6. Therefore after six months the dieter is behaving according to all twenty-six goals and she has achieved a considerable reduction in sugar intake.

7. Modern houses have so many labour-saving devices that it is difficult for the person at home to have adequate exercise by doing chores, cooking, and looking after a family.

8. Simply making the effort to reclaim this wasted material for fertilizer would have a positive effect on greenhouse releases.

9. It is difficult to imagine exactly what is meant by saying that such a classification is natural as any collection of objects could be classified in this way.

10. Unfortunately, since there are so many possible explanations, the correct one is most difficult to ascertain.

11. These exercises can easily be incorporated into an exercise routine, with each exercise repeated a number of times.

12. Fleming succeeded in isolating a streptococcus from the cerebrospinal fluid of the patient.

13. Effective vaccines prevent such hazards, but only if a social organisation ensures that all potential mothers are vaccinated in good time.












Exercise 2

Rewrite the following sentences, replacing the informal abbreviated form with a more formal *****alent.

1. The radical restructuring of British politics after 1931 does't lie in the events of 13-28 August, but in the changing attitudes within the National Government.
2. This isn't easy to do since most historians persist in speaking of The National Government as if the same sort of government ruled from 1931 to 1940.
3. The first National Government wasn't intended to be a coalition government in the normal sense of the term.
4. These aren't at all original or exotic but are based on the ordinary things that most people tend to eat.Exercise 3

Avoiding two word verbs

There is often a choice in English between a two word verb and a single verb - bring up/raise, set up/establish.

Rewrite the following sentences, replacing the informal two-word verb with a more formal *****alent.

1. A primary education system was set up throughout Ireland as early as 1831
2. This will cut down the amount of drug required and so the cost of treatment.
3. The material amenities of life have gone up in Western society.
4. The press reflected the living culture of the people; it could influence opinion and reinforce existing attitudes but it did not come up with new forms of entertainment.
5. Thus, he should have looked into how the patient has coped previously.
6. The aggregate of outstanding balances went up and down quite violently.
7. In 1947 the Treasury brought up the question of excluding South Africa (and India) from the sterling area.
8. Dieters often feel that they should totally get rid of high-fat and high-sugar foods.
9. Thus when a Gallic bishop in 576 converted the local Jewish community to Christianity, those who turned down baptism were expelled from the city.
10. Western scholars gradually turned out a corpus of translations from the Arabic and studies of Islam.
11. Ms Tucker, Lord White's 29-year-old companion, has since taken her statement back.
12. Discussion of the outcome of experiments that have used this method will be put off until Chapter 7.
13. They did not easily accept or put up with differences in others.
14. My high-school friend signed up for three years with the army so he could put away enough money to go to university and study law.
15. The solitary feeding of insectivores in forests was therefore put down to a foraging strategy involving the pursuit of cryptic and easily disturbed prey by singletons.
16. In style, the turn toward abstraction and simplification came about earliest with Anquetin and Bernard and next with van Gogh.
17. For Klein that cloudless day never arrived, but he never gave up his hope for a just world.
18. Eventually the Irish party was forced to go back to Westminster.
19. The court thinks it just and equitable to give back the property.
20. The English liked coal fires even though they do not always give off much heat.
21. The story told by German propaganda, however, gave away nothing of the mounting hopelessness of the 6th Army's position.
22. These exercises can easily be incorporated into an exercise routine, with each done again a number of times.
23. Marx took as one of his main tasks the understanding of how this system came into being and this was in order to find out why this system had such power.
24. This was before he had read the guidelines on how to carry out the research.
25. Still, the pressure to do well as an individual made most women believe that the problems they encountered were probably of their own making.


Exercise 4

It is often the case that formal words are longer than informal words, formal words are single words not multi-words and formal words are of French/Latin origin rather than their informal *****alents which are of Anglo-Saxon origin.

For example: "depart" is from French/Latin but "go" is Anglo-Saxon.

Complete the following table:

Formal Informal
seem
climb
help
cease
commence
use
decrease
demonstrate
depart go
want
enquire
end
tell
preserve
reject
free
mend
require
live
retain


Formal Informal
in the end
at once
initially
intermittently
mainly
repeatedly
next
therefore


Formal Informal
understanding
deficiency
opportunity
perspiration
house
sight


Formal Informal
amiable
whole
energetic
fortunate
childish
wrong
inferio r
inexpensive
dim
insane
laid back
responsibe e
enough
better
transparent
empty

[omry3]

ععفوا سأجرى بعض التعديلات لاحقا حيث ان برنامج الوورد عندى عطلان

[omry3]

Avoiding two-word verbs - answers
1. A primary education system was established throughout Ireland as early as 1831

2. This will reduce the amount of drug required and so the cost of treatment.

3. The material amenities of life have increased in Western society.

4. The press reflected the living culture of the people; it could influence opinion and reinforce existing attitudes but it did not create new forms of entertainment.

5. Thus, he should have investigated how the patient has coped previously.

6. The aggregate of outstanding balances fluctuated quite violently.

7. In 1947 the Treasury raised the question of excluding South Africa (and India) from the sterling area.

8. Dieters often feel that they should totally eliminate high-fat and high-sugar foods.

9. Thus when a Gallic bishop in 576 converted the local Jewish community to Christianity, those who refused baptism were expelled from the city.

10. Western scholars gradually produced a corpus of translations from the Arabic and studies of Islam.

11. Ms Tucker, Lord White's 29-year-old companion, has since retracted her statement.

12. Discussion of the outcome of experiments that have used this method will be postponed until Chapter 7.

13. They did not easily accept or tolerate differences in others.

14. My high-school friend signed up for three years with the army so he could save enough money to go to university and study law.

15. The solitary feeding of insectivores in forests was therefore attributed to a foraging strategy involving the pursuit of cryptic and easily disturbed prey by singletons.

16. In style, the turn toward abstraction and simplification occurred earliest with Anquetin and Bernard and next with van Gogh.

17. For Klein that cloudless day never arrived, but he never relinquished his hope for a just world.

18. Eventually the Irish party was forced to return to Westminster.

19. The court thinks it just and equitable to return the property.

20. The English liked coal fires even though they do not always produce much heat.

21. The story told by German propaganda, however, betrayed nothing of the mounting hopelessness of the 6th Army's position.

22. These exercises can easily be incorporated into an exercise routine, with each exercise repeated a number of times.

23. Marx took as one of his main tasks the understanding of how this system came into being and this was in order to discover why this system had such power.

24. This was before he had read the guidelines on how to conduct the research.

25. Still, the pressure to succeed as an individual made most women believe that the problems they encountered were probably of their own making.