Language: grammar and vocabulary
Formal and informal register
Choose formal or informal wording to suit who you are writing to.
Register is how formal your language is. It is not about being polite or rude — it is about matching the reader. The same message to a friend and to a bank manager needs two different sets of words, and using the wrong set is the commonest fault in a school letter.
Formal writing
No contractions: do not, cannot. Precise single verbs: postpone, investigate, request. Full sentences and no slang. Used for official letters, applications, notices and reports.
Informal writing
Contractions are fine: don't, can't. Everyday phrasal verbs: put off, look into, find out. Short sentences, exclamation marks, first names. Used for notes, messages and letters to people you know.
The phrasal-verb clue
English usually has a two-word everyday version and a one-word formal version of the same idea. Give up or abandon. Turn down or decline. Hand in or submit. Reaching for the single word raises the register at once.
Worked example
Make this formal: "Sorry, we can't sort out your problem right now."
Expand the contraction: can't becomes cannot.
Formal writing spells the negative out in full.
Try it together
Raise one line from informal to formal.
The line is: "Sorry, we can't put off the meeting until next week." Write the words each step asks for.
1.Expand the contraction. Write the one word that replaces "can't".
Have a go
Which is the formal version of "We'll look into it soon"?
Ready to practise?
Eight questions on what you have just read. Nothing is timed, and you can play as many times as you like.