formal and informal english.ppt

Formal and informal English Contractions like don’t, mustn’t, he’s, I’ve, etc., are generally used in informal English. In formal writing the full forms are preferred: do not, must not, etc. The most common difference between standard, written English and colloquial spoken and written English, is that standard English uses no contractions. Even though people speak and write conversationally using contractions, when writing reports and research papers, the words should be spelled out correctly. Personal writing allows the use of contractions. For indefinite reference you is often used in informal English while one is often used in formal English, as: You never know what new measures the President will take. One never knows what new measures the President will take. It is common in spoken, colloquial English to use "you," "we," "us," etc. indefinitely (meaning the pronoun does not have a specific noun to stand for, just a general or indefinite group). In standard English, this practice is unacceptable. Each pronoun used must refer to a specific noun. The very definition of a pronoun is a word that stands for a noun, and a pronoun that is used that does not refer clearly to a specific noun in a sentence is called a pronoun with no antecedent (noun), a hanging pronoun, an indefinite pronoun. For instance, here is a sentence from a student's research paper: "We are surrounded by a blanket of gases which only allows so much of the thermal radiation from the sun to penetrate." We is an indefinite pronoun. Who is "we?" The people of the United States? The people of the world? The reader and the writer? So this is considered poor diction. Here is another way to state the same information: "A blanket of gases surround the earth, allowing only so much of the thermal radiation from the sun to penetrate." "When we use electricity, carbon dioxide is emitted from power plants." Once again, who is "we?" --the people of Mesa, of the U.S., of the world? Other, better ways