Formal vs. Informal Language

Formal vs. Informal Language 8th Grade ELA

Formal language is traditional, using the correct voice, point of view, and sentence structure Informal language is more relaxed, spoken or written in a friendly, familiar, and more personal way.

Formal Language • Looks like • Standing or sitting straighter than usual • Sounds like • “Hello, Mrs. Cadle” • “Please, may I…” • “Nice to meet you.”

Informal Language • Looks like • Standing or sitting in a relaxed position • Sounds like • Using slang/conversational • “Hi” • “What are yadoin’?” • “What’s new?”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdDBY2-Wmis • View the clip above and take notes over formal and informal language

Formal vs. Informal He is going to the dance tonight. NOT He's going to the dance tonight. (no contractions)George has received the letter. NOT George received the letter. (use the present perfect more often)She wore the hat that I gave her. NOT She wore the hat I gave her. (keep the relative pronoun 'that')Do you want to go to the park? NOT You want to go to the park? (do not delete words) • Vocabulary is often a little different as well. • Please refrain from smoking. (formal) Please don't smoke. (informal) • You must adhere to these guidelines. (formal) You must follow these guidelines. (informal)

Commonly used informal words and phrases • Anyways, ain’t, a lot • Contractions – don’t, can’t, isn’t, etc. • Could of, would of, should of • I dunno know • Hey, how are ya? • Wanna go to the beach? • Any texting language – lol, omg, cuz, tmro, brb

Formal or Informal • You call your dad at work and his boss answers the phone. • You are asking someone out on a date • You are talking to your parents at the dinner table • You are trying to convince the assistant principal to change the date of the detention you were given. • You are talking with your friends at the mall.

Meet the parents You are meeting your boyfriend’s/girlfriend’s parents for the first time. What is the best way to greet them? • Hey, what's up? • It is a pleasure to meet you. B) - When first meeting someone important always use formal language

Formal or Informal • This is to inform you that your book has been rejected by our publishing company as it was not up to the required standard. If you would like us to reconsider it, we would suggest that you go over it and make some necessary changes. • Circle clue words that helped you figure out if this was formal or informal

Formal or Informal • You know that book I wrote? Well, the publishing company rejected it. They thought it was awful. But hey, I did the best I could, and I think it was great. I’m not gonna redo it the way they said I should. • Circle clue words that helped you figure out if this was formal or informal

Change these sentences From formal to Informal • I would be delighted to see you! • I certainly appreciate this. • It has been a pleasure meeting you. • Could you possibly give me a hand with this project?

Practice • The following are sentences written with informal (and sometimes incorrect) words and phrases. In your notebook, rewrite each sentence making the necessary corrections to create a formal statement. • He has a lot of reasons for doin what he did. • It ain’tgonna be ok for you to go tmro. • Do you get the homework in science? • Anyways, it was good to see you. • She should of done her homework b4 goin to the movie.

Formal or informalwhen to use Wisdom is knowing what to do next; virtue is doing it. David Starr Jordan

Formal vs. Informal Language