Updated Sept. 27, 2008
Avoiding Overly Formal Language
Introduction
This page has several examples of
English that most native English speakers consider to be too formal to
use in normal, everyday speech, including educated speech. In other words, in
general, these examples of English are not
suitable to use in the IELTS Speaking test.
Remember, the Speaking test is not
highly formal –
it is supposed to represent everyday spoken communication between two people of
more or less equal status, using 'educated English'. At the same time, you
should not speak too casually or use language that is too
informal, such as slang, because that is not educated English.
If
you use one of the formal language examples listed on this page, you will not
impress the examiner as much as you might think! For example, some candidates
think that they will impress the examiner by using multi-syllable words when
English has a simpler, one-syllable word that has exactly the same meaning,
but this is a mistaken idea.
Here
is an example: saying, “my residence” instead of “my home”
will not impress the examiner because it is not the way English speakers
normally speak. Yes, it is a good idea to show the extent of your vocabulary and
to vary the words you use instead of just using the same word several times, but
at the same time, you should try to avoid making unsuitable word choices. This
page will help you learn some of these unsuitable words and phrases.
a) Some examples of 'overly formal' verbs
|
Verbs to use |
Verbs to avoid |
Comments |
|
buy
|
purchase
|
|
|
leave,
go |
depart
|
|
|
help
|
assist
|
|
|
need
|
require
|
|
| ask for | request | |
|
start,
begin |
commence
|
|
|
live
|
reside
|
|
|
get
|
obtain
|
|
| get, gain | acquire | |
| watch | observe | |
| please | gratify | "Gratify" and the noun, "gratification" are unnecessarily formal in speaking. For example: "She accepted the gift with much gratification." Just say, "She was very happy to accept the gift." or, "She was very pleased to accept the gift." |
| own | possess | To say, "I possess a computer and many books." sounds much too formal. But the noun, a 'possession' is normal, not formal sounding. |
|
fix
|
repair
|
"Repair" is a little formal. For example, “I'm going to repair this broken chair” sounds unnecessarily formal but, “I got my shoe repaired” doesn't sound too formal. Why? 'Fix' is probably more suitable when the item to be fixed is composed of simple, solid parts, like a chair and one part is 'broken'. In other words, if something is 'broken', it's suitable to talk about 'fixing' it. But if, for example, your shoe is losing some of its stitching, we don't normally say it is 'broken'. In this case, it sounds normal to say, "I got my shoe repaired". |
|
want
|
desire
|
|
|
stop
|
cease
|
|
|
let
|
permit
|
For example, “My parents don't permit me to say out late at night” sounds too formal. |
|
tell
|
inform
|
The
noun, 'information' is not overly formal. |
|
answer,
reply |
respond
|
|
| write to | correspond with | |
|
start
again |
resume
|
|
|
seem |
appear |
For example: "You appear to be tired today." sounds formal. It is better to say, "You seem to be tired today." |
|
ask
|
enquire,
inquire |
For
example: "I enquired
if there was a room available."
sounds unnecessarily formal. It is better to say: "I
asked if there was a room available." |
| try | endeavour | |
| think | deem | The word 'deem' is very old-fashioned. It is not even suitable for the Writing test and is definitely unsuitable for most spoken language. |
|
would
like to, want to |
wish
to |
For
example, “I wish to study
in Britain”
sounds too formal. Avoid this usage of "wish". |
|
will,
let’s, should |
shall |
In England, “shall” is used in everyday speech with “I” or “we” but for other English speakers, the word "shall" is only used in formal situations or situations when one is trying to be exceptionally polite. If you know your examiner is from Britain, using "shall" to mean "will", "Let's ..." or "should" is ok. But if you know your examiner is not from Britain, I suggest not using it. |
| (If ... +) would | (If ... +) should | For example, “I
should say so” when
used to mean, “I'd say so”
(= I would say so) is overly formal.
Similarly, "I should be worried if I were you." is too formal. Instead, it is more normal to say: "I'd be worried if I were you." |
b) Some Overly Formal Nouns
|
Nouns to use |
Nouns to avoid |
Comments |
| some help | some assistance | |
| a home | a residence | |
| the beginning, the start | the commencement | |
| a drink | a beverage | |
| high school | secondary school | The
words,
'secondary school' might be used by the examiner but unless the examiner first uses
it, you should use 'high school'.
('Middle school', a term sometimes used in the U.S.A., is unfamiliar to most British and Australian examiners.) |
| people | persons | Saying something such as , "five persons ..." sounds like 'officialese' (公文体的文字). It is best to avoid this word. Of course, the singular noun, "person" is normal |
| people | individuals | The
word, "individual" is normal to use as an adjective or when we
are talking about a single person and emphasizing the uniqueness of the
person or the character or
personality of that person. For example, "He's a very strange
individual."
But I suggest not using it as a substitute for "person" when not emphasizing the individualistic or unique nature of that person. Using "individuals" to mean "people" is unnecessary and it sounds like 'officialese' (公文体的文字). |
c) Other Overly Formal Words and Phrases
|
Use |
Avoid |
Comments |
| people
say that ...
(many people say that ...)
|
It is said that ... | The
example here, ("It is said that ...") is an example of
using the passive voice (被动语态)
of a "reporting
verb" to
indicate a generally held belief or opinion. Other examples are,
"It is believed
... " and, "It cannot be denied ... " These
expressions are used in very formal writing and are not suitable for
speech, even educated speech. See HERE
for more on this.
In general, English speakers try to avoid the passive voice (被动语态) whenever possible when speaking everyday language because it can sound too impersonal. (However, as shown below, there are occasions when the passive is suitable in everyday speech.) Instead of using the passive voice, you should try to speak personally, especially when you are talking about yourself. For example, the following sentence sounds unnecessarily formal: "I live near an airport and passing planes can be heard night and day." (From "New Concept") A much more natural way to say that is: "I live near an airport and I (can) hear passing planes night and day." "Speaking personally" does not just mean using, "I" or "my" – it means saying who did the action of the verb and includes using, "you", "he", "she", "they", the actual name of the person or, as in the example shown here, "People" or "Many people" etc. When you are talking about someone who you know personally, you should especially try to speak personally, not impersonally. When the Passive Voice is Suitable The passive voice is most suitable to use when you don't know who did the action, or when who did the action is not important, such as when talking about when something was built. For example, it's suitable to say, "It was built during the Ming Dynasty, about four hundred years ago." It is also quite suitable when you do know who did the action but when the verb is a creative activity such as 'build', 'make', 'invent', 'compose' or 'write'. For example, the following sentences are normal spoken English: "It was composed by Mozart.", "It was invented by Thomas Edison." and, "It was written by Lu Xun." However, if the person is someone close to you, it is much more suitable to speak personally. For example, the following sentence sounds a little too impersonal when talking about your grandmother: "It was made by my grandmother." It is better to just say: "My grandmother made it." |
| I've
got to ...
or I have to ... or I must |
It is necessary for me to ... | This is similar to using the passive voice. Even though this includes the word, "me" it sounds too impersonal. |
| a lot of, lots of, a large amount of | much |
The
sentence, “There
was much snow on the ground
after the heavy snowfall” sounds too formal. "Much" used this way is suitable for a formal speech or formal writing. For example, here is a suitable but formal usage of the word "much": "We have made much progress in the past year." This sentence is suitable to use in a situation such as when a company CEO is making a speech to a meeting of company shareholders or when the president of a country is giving a speech to the whole nation. Your high school teachers told you there were only two choices, "many" and "much" but your high school teachers were not really teaching you spoken English - they were mostly teaching you written English because the College Entrance Exam has no English speaking test. "A lot of" is quite natural in spoken English and, "lots of" is also used although it is a little more informal. Although this usage of "much" sounds formal, the following are normal in everyday speech: Used in questions: "how much?", "Do you have much food at home?", "Is there much snow on the ground?" Used in Negative Sentences: (否定句): "I don't have much food at home.", "There's not much snow on the ground." |
| Yes | Of course! |
For
example, when the examiner says, “Could I see your identification
please”, don't reply with,
“Of
course!” This sounds falsely formal
and besides, it is not a true
'Yes/No' question. |
| while | whilst | |
| when | upon | For example, “When she entered the room, she .... ” sounds much better than, “Upon entering the room, she ... ” |
| interesting places | places of interest | "Places of interest" sounds like a written advertisement. (It's also overused in China.) Just say, "interesting places" or "tourist sites" if that's what you mean. |
| It's immense. | It is of immense size. | Saying, "be verb" + "of" + "adjective" is formal. For example: "It's of great interest to me." Better sentences are: "I find it interesting." Or, "It's interesting." |
| On
top of that, ...
or As well as that, ... or In addition (to that), ... (a little formal) |
Moreover, | It is best to only use, "Moreover" in academic (i.e., formal) writing. |
| So,
...
|
Consequently, .... (a little formal) |
Those
examples I have labeled as "a little formal" are suitable to
use when you are speaking about deeper, more serious topics, using
language that is a little more formal than when talking about more
'everyday' topics.
For example, in the following sentence, 'so' is better to use than, 'consequently'. Too formal = "I've been playing football ever since I was seven years old and consequently I'm very good at it now." More natural = "I've been playing football ever since I was seven years old so I'm very good at it now." But in the following example, 'consequently' is suitable: "Many new factories have opened up in China in the past few years and these factories play a crucial role in reducing unemployment, which is a serious problem here. Consequently, people tolerate the pollution that the factories produce because they think it's an acceptable price to pay." |
| For
that reason, ...
or That's why ... or so ... |
Therefore, ... (a little formal) | "Therefore"
is best used when speaking about more serious topics and especially when
you have used the language of logic to come to a conclusion.
Here's an example of an unsuitable use of "therefore": "I love singing, therefore karaoke is my favourite way to relax." A better way to say that is: "I love singing – that's why karaoke is my favourite way to relax." Or, "I love singing so karaoke is my favourite way to relax." |
| after that | thereafter | |
| that way | thereby | |
| immediately | forthwith | |
| As a
result, ...
In this way, ... |
Thus, ... | "Thus" is too formal for most spoken English and even too formal for most written essays. It is used mostly when coming to a logical conclusion when writing mathematics. |
| So,
...
As a result, ... |
Hence, ... | 'Hence' is very formal and old fashioned, even too formal for your writing test (in most cases). |
| That's to say, ... | That is to say, ... | Not
using the contracted form makes the expression, “That
is to say, ... ” sound
like written English, not spoken English. The
same comment applies to the four examples below, in most cases.
Use contracted English as much as possible. |
| What's more, ... | What is more, ... | As above |
| It's ... | It is ... | As above |
| I can't | I cannot | As above |
| I don't | I do not | As above |
| because | as,
for
since (a little formal) |
For
example, “I’m sitting for the IELTS exam as
I want to study in Australia.” Or,
“I’m sitting for the IELTS exam for
I want to study in Australia.”
It’s more natural to say, “I’m sitting for the IELTS exam because I want to study in Australia.” "Since" is used more in written English than in spoken English and is therefore formal. However, it is not too formal-sounding when used in speech at the beginning of a sentence such as: "Since I'm still a student, I don't have much money for traveling." But when "since" is used in the middle of a sentence, it does sound unnecessarily formal. For example: "I don't have much money for traveling since I'm still a student." It is better to use "because" instead of "since" in that sentence. This is a rather unusual case of the shorter words being more formal than the longer word. |
| I've got a new computer. | I've a new computer. | Using 'got' with the contracted form of 'have' is more natural spoken English and better, in my opinion, although some English speakers do use, "I've a new computer " in everyday speech. |
| from where | whence | 'Whence' is very old fashioned and formal and not even suitable for your writing. |
| don't need to + verb | needn't + verb | As with the "I've a . . . " example above, some people do use "needn't + verb" in everyday speech but for many English speakers, including me, it sounds a little formal. Using, "don't need to ..." sounds better. |
| ...
and these are: ...
(or similar words) |
... as follows: ... | "As follows" is best used in rather formal writing, when listing or giving examples. |
| Specifically say which one you mean, even if you have to repeat what you just said. | "the latter" and, "the former" | These are best reserved for rather formal writing, not speaking. |
| Better to use words such as, " (or) you could say" or, "I'd even say ..." | . . . if you will. | The
expression, "if you will" is used in formal writing. It means
something like, "or this word, if you prefer to use it".
For example, "My mother is my best friend, my source of strength, if you will." A better way to say that is, "My mother is my best friend – I'd even say, my source of strength." |
| who
... with
who ... to who ... for or omit the word "who" completely |
with
whom
to whom for whom |