Using Formal and Informal Language Appropriately

Remember… when you are speaking, writing or analyzing language in a formal situation…

• Exclamation marks
• Needless words like “well” and “you know”
• First and second person point of view
• Beginning sentences with coordinating conjunctions
• Too many short, choppy sentences that could be combined to make more complex sentence structures

• What to avoid in formal writing…

What to avoid in formal writing…

• Avoid most shortenings in formal writing. In formal English, you talk on the “telephone,” not the “phone”
• Know what acronyms may be used in your writing. In formal English, you should limit your use of acronyms, abbreviations making use of letters that stand for certain words
• Similarly, limit your use of absolute terms, such as "everybody," "always," "never"
• Avoid cliché’s and colloquialisms