正式语言与非正式语言

正式语言与非正式语言.口语与书面语的区别 1. 从词汇选择来看语体的区别 A. 名词 (a) 抽象名词作主语 抽象名词作主语多见于书面体.正式用语.如: The success of the book brought him tremendous popularity. (very formal) The book was highly successful and made him a very popular writer. (colloquial) (b) 以表示事物的名词作为通常属于人的行为.动作的主体时.常见于书面体,在口语体中.一般采用较朴实的说法(如:把书面体中的动词改为意义相近的其他动词.或改为以人为主语).如: His knowledge is insufficient to enable him to complete this task. (formal) He is not competent enough to do this job. (colloquial) The manufacture of these goods is acquiring importance as an industry. (formal) The manufacture of these goods is becoming an important industry. (colloquial) (c) 有重复主语的句子 有重复主语的句子一般只用于日常用语.不用于正式场合.如: Jim and I took the long road. (for-mal)Jim and I. we took the long road. (informal) (d) 以there为开首的句子.主语与谓语在数上一致的是正式语言.不一致的是非正式语言. There are a group of children ready to sing songs. (formal) There is a group of children ready to sing songs. (informal) (e) 所有格 The hood of the car is insulated. (formal) The cars hood is insulated. (informal) (f) 缩略语与全称 正式语言常用全称.非正式语言常用缩略语.虽然在正式语言中用缩略语的情况越来越多.但在非正式语言中缩略语用得更多.如:TV. VOA. BBC. VIP. etc. 当然在一些个别场合.书面语中可用缩略语.而口语中不使用. (g) 关于单复数 在泛指时.用复数偏通俗化.用the加单数比较文气.如:The cow is a useful animal. (a little literary) Cows are useful animals. (a little vulgar) B. 形容词 口语体中所用的形容词往往是人们最常用的形容词.这些形容词往往一词多义,而书面体中所用的形容词则往往不那么常用.这些形容词的含义往往不如口语体中所用的形容词的含义那么广泛.但其含义却往往具体.有特殊性.C. 副词 与形容词同形的英文副词往往用于口语.但诗歌中有时也用这种形式.然而.这些词却很少用于其他方面的正式用语.如: Work slowly and steadily. (formal) Work slow and steady. (informal) D. 介词 在一些状语或定语中.省略介词的属于口语.保留介词的属于书面语.如: It happened the day he did the experiment. (informal) It happened on the day on which he did the experiment. (formal) Ill come in the following spring. (formal) Ill come the following spring. (colloquial E. 代词 (a) 口语中多省略作主语的代词.如:Havent seen you for ages! (informal)(b) 关于mine. his. yours. Ours当mine. his. yours. ours等物主代词作宾语或表语时.可用于书面语.也可用于口语.但如果这种物主代词(或名词所有格)作主语放在句首.并暗指表语名词所用的概念.那就是一种比较文雅的说法了.如: His (or Mr. Lis) is a noble character. 在日常口语中一般这么用:His (or Mr. Lis) character is a noble one. / He has a noble character.但下面这类句子对书面语和口语都适用:Your teacher and mine are talking in the room.(c) we. I在一些正式场合.作者或演讲人为了表示谦虚.往往避免用I.而用we代替.如:As we showed a moment ago . (formal) As I said a moment ago . (not so formal)(d) you. we用we代替you是一种表示客气的语言.如:Dont worry about your shoes! (imperative) Why dont we not worry about your shoes. OK ? (polite)(e) you. one在翻译中文任何人.谁都等时.译成one为formal language.译成you为informal language.如: One must love ones country. (formal) You must love your country. (informal) (f) 关于I. me. he. him. etc. He says she saw you and me. (formal) He says she saw you and I. (informal) F. 动名词 在书面语中.一般用物主代词或名词所有格来修饰动名词短语.以表示行为者.如: Mr. Li dislikes Zhang Huis coming home late. There will be little chance of my visiting the place again. Li Wens falling ill suddenly gave me a surprise. 口语中一般以代词的宾格或名词普通格加分词.for加宾语加不定式.从句.独立句等方式表达.如:Mr. Li dislikes Zhang Hui coming home late. There will be little chance for me to visit the place again. Li Wen fell ill suddenly. This gave me a surprise. G. 关于缩写 用缩写形式多为非正式语言.而用非缩写形式多为正式语言.如:do not. we are. I am. I have. there is. cannot. will not等多见于正式语言.而dont. were. Im. Ive. theres. cant. wont多见于非正式语言.exam. bike等多用于口语.examination. bicycle等多用于书面语.oh. dear. why. well等是口语中常见的感叹词. 2. 从句法来看语体的区别 A. 修饰语 在书面文字中.修饰语可以与中心词相隔较远.修饰语也可以较长.而在口语中则相反.如: There exist complex computations in science and engineering which people are unable to make. (written) There are complex computations in science and engineering. and people are unable to make those computations. (colloquial) B. 句子的长短 一般来说.书面语句子较长.口语句子较短. (a) 议论文.商业或法律公文等书面语不仅常用较长的修饰语.而且有时用较长的插入语.甚至插入语中还有插入语.但在一般的口语中则不用较长的插入语.常用的较短插入语有:of course. for example. I believe. I think. you see. you know. to be frank. etc. (b) 在书面语中.一个句子有时有好几个关系代词,而口语中关系代词则用的极少.往往被分成几个简单句.如:These needles. which were made of fish-shaped pieces of iron that floated on water. were acted on by the earths magnetic field. (formal) These needles were made of fish-shaped pieces of iron that floated on water. They were acted on by the earths magnetic field. (informal) C. 关于时态 在现在的口语中.有时用过去时代替现在完成时.如:-Is anybody using this chair? -No. I saved it for you. 在口语中常用现在时代替将来时.如: She is coming tomorrow. 在口语中有时用一般现在时说明一个已经发生了的动作.如: He says it is very important. D. 虚拟语气 (a)不够熟悉的人之间对话.或在正式场合演讲.对话时.一般用虚拟语气来陈述自己的看法.提出请求或邀请.提出建议或劝告.提出问题.如: If Mr. Wang was here now. he would tell you about it. (informal) If Mr. Wang were here now. he would tell you about it. (formal) (b) 有一些表示主观愿望和情绪的形容词.如desirous等要求后面的状语从句的谓语动词用虚拟语气.这种结构主要用于书面语中.口语中往往用不定式来代替这种从句.如: He was anxious that we should stay for dinner. (formal) He was anxious to have us stay for dinner. (informal) E. 语序 在书面语中.为了使句子平衡对称.或为了表示强调.常把状语.表语.宾语等成分放在句首.并将主谓次序颠倒过来,而口语体则一般用自然语序. F. 关于省略 (a) 在正式文字或正式场合的对话中.一般要用完整的句子.在口语中用省略句较多.主要是为了节省时间.使对话自然.生动.简洁.有力.如:Where to go now? Why not do it this way? (b) 在正式语言中.所省略的部分一般都是前边出现过的.如:He had finished the work and gone home. (c) 关系代词在限定性定语从句中做谓语动词宾语或介词宾语时.在口语中一般省去.如: The girl you spoke to just now is my sister. (d) 宾语从句前的that在口语中往往省去.表语后面的从句之前的that在口语中也常省去.如: He said he would go to London. Im afraid he is right. G. 主谓语的一致性 在有些情况下.非正式语言中常按意思决定动词的单复数.所以主语和谓语在数上可能不一致.如: Neither he nor his wife have arrived. (informal) Neither he nor his wife has arrived. (formal)(David Park designs & teaches IELTS courses for individuals & groups. He was contracted by the British Council to provide this article.) A student preparing for IELTS (International English Language Testing System) sent me this query: “I dont know if spark off is a formal word or not. How can I tell the difference between formal and informal words?” Heres what I said to her in my reply: English has three main styles: formal, informal and popular. Formal English Formal English is mainly used in writing. This style is academic in tone and is commonly used in academic textbooks, most university essays, business letters and contracts. In the case of speaking, formal English is usually only used for official or serious occasions, e.g., to formally welcome guests at a university graduation ceremony. Formal English uses more complex vocabulary than everyday speech. For example, it uses many “bigger” words that arent normally used in conversation. Examples are multi-syllable words like compensate, ascend and interrogate. It also prefers one-part verbs (e.g., establish) instead of simpler, phrasal verbs (e.g., set up). Slang and colloquial vocabulary are avoided. When formal English is used in writing, sentences tend to be long and complex, and grammar rules are followed strictly. It tends to be impersonal (or neutral), often using impersonal pronouns like it and passive verbs. Contracted and abbreviated forms of words are usually avoided. Informal & popular English Informal English is the language spoken by most people every day. Its also widely used in emails and letters to friends. Speakers of informal English arent very concerned about their vocabulary. For example, informal English uses many short words (e.g., fire, climb and ask), much colloquial vocabulary (e.g., stuff, a lot of, thing and sort of) and multi-part verbs (e.g., set up instead of establish). Informal English is also more relaxed about grammar rules than formal English, using simpler grammatical structures and loosely-connected sentences and phrases. When used in writing, informal English uses first and second person points-of-view (e.g., I, you and we) to create a more personal style than formal English. Contractions (e.g., its instead of it is) are also very common. As well, informal English tends to use shorter sentences than in more formal writing, and the more formal punctuation marks the semi-colon (;) and colon (:) are usually avoided. Popular English is rarely used in writing, being used mostly in spoken English. It includes a good bit of slang. Slang is words or expressions that are very informal and are not considered suitable for polite speech or more formal situations. Slang is often used only by particular social groups or professions. More on phrasal verbs When people speak or write informally, they often use phrasal verbs (also called multi-word or multi-part verbs). Here are some examples. The formal, one-word verb with the same meaning is in brackets. Phrasal verbs & single-word equivalents ask for (request) go down with (contract) set up (establish) deal with (handle) find out (discover) take in (deceive) Phrasal verbs are very common in spoken English. However, theyre usually less formal than their one-word verb equivalents. In formal writing, writers often prefer to use single-word verbs, such as examine or devise, rather than phrasal verbs, such as look at or come up with. Compare the pairs of verbs in the next table. Though theres a tendency to use fewer phrasal verbs in formal language, its not wrong to use them. Nevertheless, if theres a one-word verb thats more formal, then use it. Dont think that a few phrasal verbs in your IELTS writing will make it too informal. In fact, there are many situations - even in quite formal texts - when a phrasal verb is the most natural-sounding way of expressing an idea. For instance, put on is much more natural than the formal, single-word equivalent don. Informal More formal He checked up on his accountant. He investigated his accountant. They put up with their neighbours. They tolerated their neighbours. She caught on very quickly. She understood very quickly. She made up for it with an early night. She compensated for it with an early night. He went down with a fever. He contracted a fever. The cost of living went up. The cost of living increased/rose. Telling the difference Its usually easy to decide if a word is informal or formal. Informal words are those common, ordinary and familiar words that people use every day, whereas formal words tend to be the more “serious” and less frequently used words. Often, formal words are longer than informal words. Single-word verbs are also usually more formal than their phrasal verb equivalents. For instance, saying something is enormous is formal, but saying its whopping is informal. Phrases like on the one hand or as indicated above are formal, but phrases like by the way or that reminds me are informal. Note that some informal words are more formal than other informal words. The informal verb understand, for example, is more formal than the informal verb get. However, both are less formal than the formal verb comprehend. IELTS uses a semi-formal style The IELTS website says academic essays may use “a neutral or slightly formal style of writing.” This means your IELTS academic writing may use slightly less formal vocabulary (e.g., phrasal verbs like spark off instead of cause) as well as words that are more formal. It may also use the complex grammar of formal English, or it may use slightly simpler grammatical structures. However, the more formal the vocabulary and the more complex the grammar is, the higher the IELTS score. In the case of vocabulary, for instance, the scoring scheme gives higher scores when “less common” or “uncommon lexical items” (words or phrases) are used which is what formal vocabulary is. Click here to see the scoring scheme. Heres my advice for vocabulary for academic essays in the IELTS exam: Use a more formal one-word verb if it sounds more appropriate than its phrasal verb equivalent. Avoid using a personal or conversational style (as if youre talking to the examiner). Therefore, try not to use words like I, me, my, you, we, us and our. Though these words are widely used in informal writing and in spoken English, theyre generally thought to be too personal and too casual for formal, academic writing. If you wish, you may use the pronoun I to introduce your opinions. However, I recommend that you limit its use to the introduction and the closing paragraph. That way, youll avoid the risk of making your essay sound too conversational or overly personal. Avoid words or phrases used mainly in normal conversation as theyre usually not suitable for use in academic writing. Dictionaries often identify these words with the label “informal.” In your essay, use a more formal equivalent. Here are some examples: Avoid Use kids children OK all right; acceptable a lot of much; many heaps many; a great deal Never use colloquial English or slang. Colloquial English is a type of informal English, and it includes words such as gonna or wanna, and phrases such as aint nothin and dead as a doornail. Dictionaries usually mark colloquial words and phrases with a label like “colloq.” Because colloquial English and slang are usually spoken rather than written, theyll make your academic writing sound too conversational and so less credible. Although its usual to contract words in spoke