Formal vs Informal Language Quiz

Formal and Informal Language

• Formal language is used when writing or speaking to someone you wish to show respect, politeness or to distance yourself (e.g., official language). It shows politeness, respect, or distance.
• Informal language is suitable for casual communication with friends or family. It shows closeness, friendliness, and equality.
• Formal language is usually less personal, while informal language is more personal.
• Formal language is used for professional or academic writing (university assignments) and often avoids colloquialisms, contractions, and first-person pronouns (like "I" or "we").
• Informal language is used when communicating with friends or family, sometimes even in business correspondence (personal emails, text messages).
• Tone, word choices, and sentence structure differ between formal and informal styles.

Differences in Language Styles

• Tone, word choices and the way words are structured differ between formal and informal styles.

Examples of Formal and Informal Language

• Informal: The improvements can't be introduced due to funding restrictions.

• Formal: Improvements cannot be introduced due to funding restrictions.

• Informal: I don't believe that the results aren't accurate.

• Formal: I do not believe the results are inaccurate.

• Informal: The research project won't continue next year.

• Formal: The research project will not continue next year.

• Informal: The balloon was blown up for the experiment.

• Formal: The balloon was inflated for the experiment.

• Informal: The patient got over his illness.

• Formal: The patient recovered from his illness.

• Informal: The results of the study were mixed up.

• Formal: The results of the study were confused.

• Informal: The mob was very rowdy during the protest against cuts to university funding.

• Formal: The crowd was very rowdy during the protest against cuts to university funding.

• Informal: Lecturers still count on students to use correct grammar and punctuation in essays.

• Formal: Lecturers expect students to use correct grammar and punctuation in essays.

• Informal: It was raining cats and dogs.

• Formal: It was raining heavily.

Contractions & Shortened Words

• Contractions are shortened forms of words or phrases created by the omission of letters or sounds.
• Informal language often uses contractions, whereas formal language often avoids them.

Phrasal Verbs

• Phrasal verbs are phrases made up of a verb and one or more prepositions or adverbs.
• Usually used in informal spoken and written text.
• Examples: turn down, come across, run into, etc.

Slang/Colloquialisms

• Slang are unconventional words or phrases that express a new way of stating things old and new things.
• Colloquialisms are used for casual communication, and is the most common speaking style.
• Examples: The crowd was very rowdy during the protest, it was raining cats and dogs.

Short Monosyllabic Informal Words

• Informal language frequently uses short words for example ten quid instead of ten pounds.

first-person Pronouns

• Informal language uses first-person pronouns ("I", "we") more frequently than formal language.
• Formal language often avoids first-person pronouns to sound less subjective.

Acronyms/Initialisms

• Abbreviation is a truncated form of a word or phrase.
• An acronym is shortened phrases from parts of a phrase that's pronounced as a word.
• Examples: TAFE, ANZAC
• Initialisms is an acronym that's pronounced as individual letters.
• Example: UTS, ISO, OECD

Rules for Using Acronyms and Initialisms

• When introducing acronyms, write the word out in full along with the acronym or initialism in parenthesis for clarity
• Subsequent uses of the acronym/initialism may be used on their own
• If a plural is needed, a simple 's' without an apostrophe is used(e.g., UTS's, ANZAAC's)

Test your understanding of formal and informal language styles with this quiz. Explore the differences in tone, word choice, and sentence structure between these two communication styles. Perfect for students and communication enthusiasts alike.