What is the difference between formal and informal English/language?
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formal - when you talk with boss informal - when you talk with your friends
The difference between formal and informal English lies in their usage, tone, vocabulary, and grammatical structures, with each serving distinct purposes. However, both formal and informal English can coexist within the same language system, allowing speakers to switch between the two based on the context, audience, and purpose of communication. This was a much needed question to be discussed because its clear that understanding the differences between formal and informal English is essential for effective communication in various contexts, enabling individuals to adapt their language use to suit the appropriate social and professional settings. Hope this helps!
There are lots of good answers here. For me, informal language is about tone and emotion: Hey Everybody, what's happening? You can be really expressive with informal language. Formal language, for me, is more about the content of what you are writing and delivering it in a fairly neutral way: Good Morning everyone. Let's start with updates from each department.
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Hi We can see this difference when we write ✍️ a letter. If you write to a friend of yours, or your colleague is completely different rather writing to your Boss. You can't say hi or hello for a Start. You have to write dear , your can't use contractions or phrasal verbs. Best Regards
Formal English is more business like. Very polite. Well structured English. Informal is where you can take short cuts and use slang. For example: I watched TV today. Informal. I watched television today. Formal.
The main difference formal and informal English is the level of formality. Formal English is used in more serious or official situations, like in business or academic writing. It follows more strict rules of grammar and style. Informal English is more relaxed and casual. It is the kind of English you might use with friends or family. It is not as strict with grammar rules, and it can be more conversational.
- Miss JRCELTA Certified English Teacher with more than 10 years of experience.
It depends on when you are using it, who you are talking to and what is the situation. Informal English uses slang words.
Formal language does not use slang terms, fierst person pronouns or contractions. Informal language is more casual and will use slang terms.
We use formal language in serious situations however we use informal language in more relaxed situations.
Formal language is used in polite, official and professional settings, while informal language in used in casual conversations with friends and family.
Use formal language when you are communicating with someone that you don't know very well , business emails , public speaking , job interviews , professional academic situations etc... and use informal language in situations that are more relaxed and that involve people that you know well , in everyday conversations , personal emails , text messages etc....
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para praia de tarde no Brasil de manhã ao?
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Actually, when we say walk in the street, we don't know which street exactly, but when we say walk on the street, we exactly know which street they are walking on. For example: she was walking on st.jose street. Plus we can use along the streer instead
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Through modeling, where the teacher provides a clear model of the pronunciation, and the student repeats it. Secondly, phonetic transcription using the International phonetic Alphabet (IPA) which can help the student understand how words are pronounced. Another way could be using tongue twisters, which can be a fun and helpful way for practicing pronunciation , especially for sounds that are difficult to pronounce. The last way could be recordings, where students could listen to native speakers and imitate how they pronounce words.
