Formal and Informal English

Question 1

You need to write a short email to the town fire chief asking for permission to hold a safety demonstration at your school, and you also want to send a quick chat message to your best friend inviting them to play video games after dinner. Which statement correctly explains why you would use formal language in the email but informal language in the chat message?

Accepted Answer

Because the fire chief is someone you don’t know well and you are making a polite request, you use respectful words and full sentences; your friend knows you well, so you can use casual words and shortcuts.

Answer

Emails must be longer than chat messages, so you need more formal words in the email and fewer words in the chat.

Answer

Formal language shows you are older than the fire chief, while informal language shows you are younger than your friend.

Answer

Since the fire chief likes jokes, using formal language will make them laugh, and using slang with your friend will keep the message short.

Question 2

Which version of the two sentences is written correctly according to standard conventions for capitalization, punctuation, and contractions?

Accepted Answer

It's raining today. We will stay inside.

Answer

It's raining today, we will stay inside.

Answer

Its raining today, we will stay inside.

Answer

Its raining today. We will stay inside.

Question 3

You are preparing to give a short presentation to the school board about a new recycling program. Which of the following sentences would be most appropriate to use in your presentation?

Accepted Answer

Dear Board Members, I am pleased to present my proposal for a new recycling program.

Answer

So, like, we should totally start recycling more, right?

Answer

Hey everyone, I'm gonna tell you why recycling rocks!

Answer

Yo, check out this cool recycling idea I have!

Try three questions

Which version of the two sentences is written correctly according to standard conventions for capitalization, punctuation, and contractions?

You are preparing to give a short presentation to the school board about a new recycling program. Which of the following sentences would be most appropriate to use in your presentation?

Keep going on this shelf