Formal and informal language

Perhaps you have been invited to a party, but you didn’t know what to wear? If you turn up in clothes much nicer than everyone else, you can feel uncomfortable. Using the wrong level of formality in your language can lead to the same thing.

Do you sometimes feel like you stumble while trying to speak another language? Maybe you don’t know all of the words you need, a sudden rush of adrenaline might make your mind go blank, or you could end up offending the person you’re speaking to by accidentally using the wrong words.

It is important to know the difference between formal and informal language and how to use them. If you have those skills, you will do better in your social, academic, and professional life.

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Frustrert dame som står foran klesskapet og er usikker på hva hun skal ha på seg av klær
Frustrert dame som står foran klesskapet og er usikker på hva hun skal ha på seg av klær

Formal or informal language?

Formal and informal language is also called register. By formal, we mean serious or very polite. By informal we mean relaxed and friendly. How can you decide if you should use formal or informal language?

Know who you are writing or speaking to

Look at the examples:
Imagine sitting in a park eating a sandwich with your best friend. Compare this to going to a nice dinner for a charity organization with your parents.

In the park, you would probably feel relaxed. You and your friend speak freely and do not think about how you say things. You probably use slang, abbreviations and contractions.

At the dinner, you will probably feel a bit nervous, especially if there are a lot of people you don’t know. This will make you think more about what you say and do.

The language you choose will be affected by the people around you.

In which situations do you think it would be unfit to use informal language?

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Basic differences between formal
and informal language

English is different from for example French and Norwegian when it comes to informal and formal vocabulary and structure. In French and Norwegian, you can switch from informal to formal by changing the pronoun for “you”.

In English, on the other hand, you can’t do that because English doesn’t have different pronouns for “you.” In English, you use verbs and change the sentence structure instead.

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Bokstav magneter som staver ordet you
Bokstav magneter som staver ordet you

Modal auxiliary verbs

Modal auxiliary verbs are also called helping verbs. They are used to change the meaning of the main verb in a sentence a bit.

Helping verbs show different signals. It can be asking permission, being polite, expressing possibilities/plans, or giving advice.

Perhaps you have used the following helping verbs sometimes:

can — could — going to — have to — may — might — must — should — would
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Fokus av hånden til en lærer som skriver opp modal auxiliary verbs eksempler på en whiteboard tavle
Fokus av hånden til en lærer som skriver opp modal auxiliary verbs eksempler på en whiteboard tavle
Modal verbs overview

You find helping verbs in front of the main verb. For questions, the helping verb starts the question. This is in the simple present tense.

Here you see some examples of what we have talked about above:

MODAL VERB

  • He would like to go to the game.
  • Would he like to go to the game?

SIMPLE PRESENT  – YES/NO

  • She plays volleyball.
  • Does she play volleyball?
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Ordet Sentence Structure stavet ved hjelp av treklosser med bokstaver på
Ordet Sentence Structure stavet ved hjelp av treklosser med bokstaver på

Mechanics

When we say mechanics, we speak about the rules in writing. It covers spelling, capitalization, sentence structure, and more. Two things we are going to explain more are contractions and the verb get.

Fokus på hånd som holder en blyant og skriver i en skrivebok
Fokus på hånd som holder en blyant og skriver i en skrivebok

Contractions

Do not use contractions in formal writing. A contraction is a shorter form of a group of words such as I’m (I am) and you’re (you are). Instead, you write it out: do not (don’t).

Fokusert, ung kvinne som leser og skriver ved en pult
Fokusert, ung kvinne som leser og skriver ved en pult

Get

Get is a word that is used instead of many others. It is accepted in formal speech,but  it is not good to use in formal writing.

So, it is better to use the verb you really mean instead of get. Some examples of words you can use are:

arrive — become — bring — catch — have — make — receive — start — understand
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Time to put your skills to the test!

Your language skills will be better when you learn how to use the language in different situations.

The best way to get better is to practice the language. You should practice both formal and informal language.

En gruppe studenter som sitter i en trapp inne på skolen og snakker
En gruppe studenter som sitter i en trapp inne på skolen og snakker

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