Formal and Informal English Verbs | Advanced English Verbs

Hi and welcome back to love English I'm Leila and today I'm going to help you understand the difference between formal and informal English a little bit better now here's the thing, there is spoken English or colloquial English this includes things like phrasal verbs idiomatic expressions and of course slang and then there is more formal English this includes not using contractions using more formal vocabulary and expressions and grammar there's even more formal structures and sentences that you can use in English to be more formal more polite more academic more businesslike and of course it means not using too many phrasal verbs and definitely not using slang now when do you need to use formal English well there are lots of situations at my university where I teach of course it is very important to know how to write in formal English to know how to structure an essay or a report and then of course there's seminars presentations where you need to make sure you show yourself in a formal manner abiding by academic and formal English language conventions and then in business situations formal English is essential whether you're having a meeting with colleagues giving a presentation or of course writing letters and emails you need to know how to write and speak in formal British English so in today's lesson I'm going to share with you some common words that you would use in spoken English and give you the more formal equivalent this is a series of lessons that we will be going through to help you understand the difference between formal and informal English so if you haven't already make sure you click that subscribe button and of course the notifications bell so you are one of the first to be notified when we upload our lessons you can also find us on Instagram Facebook and Twitter let's get started formal versus informal expressions and vocabulary let's go so the words I'm looking at today are verbs they are referring to actions of some sort and I imagine that the informal word you would be very familiar with these are probably some of the first words you learned when you began your English language journey so let's get started number one find out find out now find out is of course a phrasal verb and it is very commonly used in English she wanted to find out his number however informal English discover or ascertain ascertain discover would be more neutral ascertain would be very formal I need to ascertain exactly what was said in the meeting free in this case we're saying not free to buy it doesn't cost anything but we're talking about freeing someone so release release would be the formal equivalent she freed the bird she released the bird she freed the press release new new new can you release the press release she freed the figure's she released the figures she released the figures yet oh yes the most or one of the most common words in the english language to get but it is very much a word that we speak and in academic and of course business english you wouldn't want to keep using get it doesn't sound particularly formal or educated so better to use obtain obtain you wouldn't say can you obtain me a coffee but you would ask someone to obtain figures or data for you get me a coffee i obtained the funds i obtained the money get in touch get in touch get in touch with somebody can you get in touch with the other manager of the department no better in formal english to say can you contact can you contact him please come in actually more formal enter enter if you're giving this as an instruction be careful because could also sound a little bit too strong to use enter sounds more like an instruction being bossy you say come in great if you tell someone to enter it's almost like you're going to punish them or tell them off what time did she enter the meeting go against she went against him she disagreed with him a pose she opposed him she opposed him she went against his idea she opposed his proposal for an earlier meeting two that are very similar here go down and go up simply it is much better to say increase and decrease increase and decrease for any of you studying IELTS and doing the part one then you know you need to refer to graphs and bar charts and you should be using the numbers increased or the numbers decreased not went down or went up now in a letter in an email you would write it concerns this concerns in a text message you would probably write it's about I need to talk to you about whereas formal English I need to talk to you concerning I need to talk to you concerning I need to talk to you concerning the proposal you put on my desk yesterday texting I need to talk to you it's about the proposal formal versus informal another verb that you would commonly use to buy I bought some sunglasses formal English purchase purchase you wouldn't say I purchased a pair of sunglasses but if you're in an academic situation you might refer to the number of purchases you might say it's popular to purchase the new iPhone keep keep the information or informal English retain retain the information or retain the funds the money we'd say funds rather than referring to money that's another one there formal versus informal so funds money retain keep the money retain the funds to leave out I think you should leave that out of the report more formal I think you should admit that omit that from the report to leave out to let or allow she let me in she let me the funds or she permitted me to retain the funds she permitted me to retain the funds permit someone you do need a pronoun there or a noun referring to the object she permitted me to do something look at I think we need to look at the figures again in more formal English examine examine I think we should examine those figures again make up no not the stuff that I put on my face when you're referring to creating a story that isn't true she made up a lie in this case we would say fabricate to fabricate something she fabricated a story explaining why she was late to work in fact she'd been drinking the night before to make up to fabricate need-need - I really need to go to the toilet normal English informal English require I need you to get the report on my desk by five o'clock I require the report by five o'clock require point out she pointed out the mistake in my presentation indicate indicate she indicated there was a mistake in my presentation and in more formal English it might be better to use the word error error doesn't sound as strong as mistake to put off another phrasal verb I think we need to put off the meeting until tomorrow how about delay delay exactly the same way we would not use call off call us we would say cancel cancel the meeting we need to cancel the meeting so again phrasal verbs with their more formal equivalent put up I had to put up with my boss being really rude in the meeting another phrasal verb but in fact the formal equivalent to tolerate (TOLERATE) ONE L (editing error in video) I tolerate my boss's behavior I tolerate his behavior ring up ring up you wouldn't use ring up you would use simply call she rang me up or she called me not a big difference there compared to some of the others but again it can make a big difference in a more formal business situation say sorry I'm so sorry nothing wrong with the word sorry very powerful word great if you mean it but in more formal English if you're writing a letter you might use the word apologise apologise so to apologize I apologise is the verb an apology is the noun my apologies using the noun there or I apologise but better than using sorry in formal situations seeing you really seem a little bit tired today nothing wrong with that in natural spoken English or in a text message but in more formal academic situations you would probably use the verb appear appear you appear a little tired set up he set up a business great phrasal verb really nice if you know it academic English formal business English established he established his business in 2005 or he set up he began the business he started it in formal English the graph shows there is an increase in the number of people buying coca-cola the graph illustrates the graph illustrates there is an increase in the number of people buying coca-cola so illustrates more formal great for IELTS guys show up what time did she show up or what time does she turn up again these phrasal verbs are so commonly spoken than when it comes to writing them it seems the natural thing to do when you are writing even in academic and formal situations much better to say arrive arrive start simple word easy enough to use nothing wrong with using it but more formal more academic commence commence you'll often hear this in more formal situations like with the Olympics they'll talk about an event commencing rather than starting it just sometimes it sounds a little bit more formal and appropriate the meeting commenced at 10 o'clock think about really common it's so common that of course you really need to think about what would be the more formal equivalent consider consider what are you considering what options are you considering more formal who must have got the word live so simple but in fact we've got a more formal equivalent reside reside where do you reside quite unusual I would say that reside would more commonly be used in written formal English than spoken it does sound a bit strange to even say it you wouldn't ask someone where they reside and of course the noun is residence resident so do pay attention to the connection in those words the word families what's the noun what's the verb to reside - the verb residence is the place where you live argue argue we do have quite a few different words for argue but ultimately disagree would be one of the easiest and quarrel might be another nice one to use they had a disagreement or they were disagreeing over the issues and finally I'm gonna leave you with one more verb help help nothing wrong with that but of course in business and at a university you'll often require help but instead you can use assist (ASSIST) can I assist you could I be of some assistance so to assist is the verb and assistance is the noun and we could use both of these slightly different ways but certainly when it comes to writing formal English you would use assist and assistance and that's it guys just a few words for you there but hopefully you'll be able to think a little bit more about the difference in the vocabulary you use when you're writing informal English whether that is for university or a business situation or of course if you need to write a letter of complaint or a serious letter that needs to deal with an issue using formal English is essential people will take you more seriously think you are more educated and have a better grasp of the English language but we do realise just how tricky it is to navigate the differences between formal and informal English so this is just the first of many lessons helping you understand those differences improving your spoken English and of course your writing so have a go comment below try using some of the new formal words I have taught you I'm sure you can do it and if I can be of any assistance comment below thanks for watching bye

Channel: Love English with Leila & Sabrah

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Keywords: Love English with Leila & Sabrah, Love English with Leila & Sabrah YouTube, YouTube Love English with Leila & Sabrah, learn English, love English, English, formal verbs, advanced verbs, formal english, formal english vocabulary, english vocabulary lesson, academic english, business english, formal vs informal english, how to, what is, academic vocabulary, formal words, english formal

Id: PQNgcldzUos

Length: 13min 31sec (811 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 03 2020