Informal language (i.e.

colloquial language) is the language of private conversation,

of personal letters, etc. it is the first type of language that a native speaking child
becomes familiar with. Because it is generally easier to understand than formal
English, it is often used nowadays in public communication of a popular kind: for
example, advertisements and popular newspapers mainly employ a colloquial or
informal style.
There are various degrees of formality, as these examples show:
When his dad died, Pete had to get another job.
[4]
After his fathers death, Peter had to change his job.
[5]
On the decease of his father, Mr. Brown was obliged to seek alternative
employment.
[6]
These sentences mean roughly the same thing, but would occur in different
situations. Sentence [4] could be part of a casual conversation between friends of
Peter Brown. [5] is of fairly neutral (common core) style. [6] is very formal, in fact
stilted, and would only occur in a written report.
In English there are many differences of vocabulary between formal and informal
language. Much of the vocabulary of formal English is French, Latin, and Greek
origin; and we can often translate these terms into informal language by replacing
them by words or phrases of Anglo Saxon origin: compare commence, continue,
conclude <formal> with begin, keep (up), end:
Commence at 4 p.m. <formal>
The meeting will
Begin at 4 oclock.
Continuing its struggle against inflation.
The government is <formal>
Keeping up its fight against inflation.
rather informal>
The concert concluded with a performance of Beethovens 5 th symphony. <formal>
They ended the concert with Beethovens 5 th. <informal>
Many phrasal and prepositional verbs (see 696-703) are characteristic of
informal style:
<Formal>
OR COMMON CORE WORD
Discover
Explode
Encounter
Invent
Enter
Tolerate
Investigate
Surrender

<Informal>
EQUIVALENT
find out
blow up
come across
make up
go in (to)
put up with
look into
give in

But there is not always a direct translation between formal and informal English.
This may be because an informal term has emotive qualities not present in formal
language, or because formal language often insists on greater preciseness. The
informal word job, for instance, has no formal equivalent: instead, we have to
choose a more precise and restricted term, according to the context: employment,
post (esp <BrE>), position, appointment, profession, vocation, etc.
There are also some grammatical differences between formal and informal English:
for example, the use of who and whom, and the placing of a preposition at the
beginning or at the end of a clause (see 579,791):
She longed for a friend in whom she could confide. <formal>
=
She longed for a friend (who) she could confide in. <informal>
In what country was he born? <formal>
=
What country was he born? <informal>
Impersonal style <impersonal>
Formal written language often goes with an impersonal style; ie one in which the
speaker does not refer directly to himself or his readers, but avoids the pronouns I,
you, we. Some of the common features of impersonal language are passives (see
676-82), sentences beginning with introductory it (see 584-7), and abstract nouns
(see 54-6). Each of these features is illustrated in:
Announcement from the librarian
It has been noted with concern that the stock of books in the library has been
declining alarmingly. Students are asked to remind themselves of the rules for
the borrowing and return of books, and to bear in mind the needs of other
students. Penalties for overdue books will in the future be strictly enforced.
The author of this notice could have written a more informal and less impersonal
message on these lines:
The number of books in the library has been going down. Please make sure
you know the rules for the borrowing, and dont forget that the library is for
everyones convenience. So from now on, were going to enforce the rules
strictly. You have been warned!
Polite and familiar language <polite> <familiar> (see 27-28)
Our language tends to be more polite when we are talking to a person we do not
know well, or a person senior to ourselves in terms of age or social position.
The opposite of polite is familiar. When we know someone well or
intimately, we tend to drop polite forms of language. For example, instead of using
the polite vocative Mr. Brown, we use a first name (Peter) or a short name (Pete) or
even a nickname (Shortie). English has no special familiar pronouns, like some
languages (eg French tu, German du), but familiarity can be shown in other ways.
Compare, for example these requests (see 347 Note):
Shut the door, will you? <familiar>
Would you please shut the door? <polite>
I wonder if you would mind shutting the door? <more polite>
Words like please and kindly have the sole function of indicating politeness. One can
also be familiar in referring to a third person:
Petes old woman hit the roof when he came home with that doll from the disco.
<very familiar> [7]
Peters wife was very angry when he came home with the girl from the discotheque.
<common core> [8]

We might judge [7] to be <impolite> in that it fails to show proper respect to Peters
wife and the girl. In other words, impoliteness is normally a question of being
familiar in the wrong circumstances.
Sentence [7] is also an example of slang. Slang is language which is very familiar in
style, and is usually restricted to the members of a particular social group, for
example teenage slang, army slang, theatre slang. Slang is not usually fully
understood by people outside a particular social group, and so has a value of
showing the intimacy and solidarity of its members. Because of its restricted use,
and short life, we shall not be concerned with slang in this book.
Tactful and tentative language <tactful> <tentative>
Politeness is connected with tact or diplomacy. To be tactful is to avoid causing
offence or distress to someone. Sometimes tact means disguising or covering up
the truth. In the following sentences, gone and passed away are ways of avoiding
mentioning the unpleasant fact of Peters fathers death:
Peters father has gone at last.
Peters father has passed away at last.
Here is a tactful imperative, said by Mr. Brown to his new typist, Miss Smith:
Would you like to type this letter for me?
It may be Miss Smiths job to do what Mr. Brown tells her to do. But by disguising his
order in the form of a question about Miss Smiths wishes, he may win her cooperation more readily.
A request, suggestion, etc. can be made more tactful by making it more tentative.
Compare:
I suggest that we postpone the meeting until tomorrow.
May I suggest that we postpone the meeting until tomorrow?
<tactful>
Could I suggest that we postpone the meeting until tomorrow?
<tentative, more tactful>
In other cases tentativeness is not connected with tact, but is simply an indication
of the speakers reluctance to commit himself on a given question. For example,
might is a more tentative way of expressing possibility than may:
Someone may have made a mistake.
Someone might have made a mistake <tentative>
Literary, elevated or rhetorical language <literary> <elevated> <rhetorical>
Some features of English of limited use have a literary or elevated tone: they
belong mainly to the literary language of the past, but can still be used by a writer
or public speaker of today if he wants to impress us or move us by the solemnity or
seriousness of what he has to say. An example of such elevated language comes
from the Inaugural Speech of President Kennedy (1961):
Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that
the torch has passed to a new generation of Americans
This contains the old-fashioned (archaic) words forth and foe, and also begins with
an elevated let-construction (see 521).
In addition to the variety labels <literary> and <elevated>, we sometimes
use the related label <rhetorical>. This signifies a stylized use of language, whether
in speech or writing, which is consciously chosen for an emphatic or emotive effect.
A good example of this is the so-called rhetorical question, which is meant to be
interpreted as an emphatic statement:

Is it any wonder that politicians are mistrusted? (=It is no wonder that)

Although we often meet them in the literature of earlier periods, literary, elevated
and rhetorical forms of language are not particularly common in the everyday
language of today, and we shall only need to refer to them occasionally in this book.
Levels of usage
Apart from the national varieties <AmE> and <BrE>, the different types of English
we have discussed belong to different levels of usage. We might attempt to place
them on a scale running from elevated English at one extreme to slang at the
other extreme. But it is probably better, in the main, to think of three pairs of
contrasting levels:
<written>
<formal>
<polite>
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
<spoken>
<informal>
<familiar>
This diagram represents only the most important levels of usage, and ignores the
more restricted variety labels, such as <impersonal> and <elevated>. The features
at the top of the diagram tend to go together, and likewise those at the bottom. But
this needs not to be the case. For example, it is possible to express oneself politely
in spoken English, and it is possible to express oneself informally in written English.
In Parts Three and Four, we make liberal use of labels for levels of usage, because
we feel it is important to give you as full guidance as possible on the appropriate
use of English grammatical forms and structures. Some other speakers of English
might disagree with some of our uses of these labels. This is because the feeling for
levels of usage is very much a subjective matter, depending on the intuitions of
individuals who use the language. For example, an older English speaker might
regard as familiar a form of language which might not seem so to a younger
English speaker. We would like you to use these labels for guidance in your own use
of the language, rather to consider them as descriptive of general standards of
appropriateness.
Again, we emphasis that examples and constructions which are not marked
by variety labels may be considered to belong to the common core of English.
Selective list of variety references
For those who wish to explore the characteristics of different varieties of English in
more detail, we now give a list of references to variety labels in the rest of this
book. For this purpose, we limit ourselves to the eight most important variety labels,
and to a selection of the more important references to these labels. References are
to sections.
<Written>
Listing and adding: firstly, to conclude, etc 370
Explanation: ie, eg, viz 373
Participial and verbless clauses: Cleared, the site will be very valuable 388, 407-9
Pieces of information set off by punctuation 411
Main and subsidiary information: focus, weight, topic, etc 422-4, 427
Cleft sentences: Its more time tjat we need 434-7
Concord: Neither of them has 540
Genitive 570-2
A personal pronoun substituting for a following noun phrase 686
Spelling change: lady/ladies, etc 808-21

<Spoken>
Pieces of information set off by tone units 36, 411-13, 479 (sentence adverbials),
490 (apposition), 522 (comment clauses)
Rising intonation in questions 41, 249, 800
Making a new start: Now, what was the other thing ? 368
Use of coordination 377
Unlinked clauses 389
Subject-verb inversion: Heres the milkman 431
Auxiliary verbs: contracted forms 497, 630
Comment clauses in end-position: Hes a pacifist, you see 522
Genitive 570-2
<Formal>
Amount words: many people 58, 60, a majority (minority) of 58
First person pronouns, we (for I): As ws showed 85
Pronouns with indefinite reference: One never knows what may happen 86
Choice of this and that 89
Time and place: within a week (the walls) 146, 168
Time-when: subsequently, etc 149
Frequency: once per day 157, 560, on several occasions 159
Manner, means and instrument: With what did he write it? 192, She cooks turkey in
the way my mother did 193-4
Cause: on account of 199
Purpose: so as to, in order that 203
Reason and consequence: consequently 204, The weather having improved
205, thus, hence 207
Conditions: In case of difficulty call the operator 209
Contrast: whereas 212, despite, notwithstanding, nevertheless 214
Condition + contrast: even though 215
Degree: To what degree (extend)? 217
Proportion: As time went on, so . . . 237
Addition: in addition 238
Short questions: With whom? 255, 579
Certainty: indubitably, unquestionably, etc 303
Wish: The manager wishes to thank you . . . 336
Permission: May we (Are we permitted to) smoke? 340
Obligation: require 341, shall 343
Invitations: May I invite you to . . . ? 351
Reported commands, etc: They were forbidden to smoke (prohibited from smoking)
354
Promises: Our firm will undertake to . . . 355
Greetings on introduction: How do you do ? 358
Beginning and ending letters: Dear Sir, Yours faithfully, 360
Regrets: I regret that . . . 361
Good wishes, toasts, etc: Your health! 362
Vocatives: Ladies and gentlemen! 364-5
Listings and adding: firstly, lastly, etc 370
Explanation: ie, eg, viz 373
Contrast: however, although . . . yet 376
Participial and verbless clauses: Being a farmer, he has . . . 388, 407-9
Substitutes: Everybody looked after himself 393, 397 (that, those), 540, 686
Given topic: Most o these problems a computer could solve easily 429
Subject-verb inversion: Slowly out of its hangar rolled . . . 431

Subject-operator inversion: Under no circumstances must the door . . . 432

Commands: Let somebody else . . . 521
Comparison: . . . than I 528
Concord: Neither of them has . . . 540
Demonstratives: The butter we import is less expensive than that we produce
ourselves 549
Interrogatives: Whom is he marrying? 579, 581, He could not remember on which
shelf . . . 642, 741
Introductory there: There are two patients . . . 591
Uncontracted forms: He is not . . . 630
Nominal ing clauses: I am surprised at Johns his making that mistake 650
Relative pronouns: the girl to whom he spoke 791-4
Subordination signaled by inversion: Had I known, . . . 828
26
<Informal>
Species nouns: most kinds of cats, these kind of dogs 52
Amount words: a lot of (lots of) people 58, 60, 566
Pronouns with indefinite reference: You never know . . ., They say . . . 86
Time-when, omitting the preposition: I saw the day after her birthday 144
Duration: for ages 156
Place: Over here is where I put the books 161, You dont see many trams about 180,
190
Manner, means and instrument: What did he write it with? 192, She cooks turkey
the way I like 193-4
Result: I took no notice of him so he . . . 202, 380
Negative purpose: He left early in case he . . . 203
Contrast: though 212
Condition, contrast: all the same 214, anyway 216
Degree: a lot, a bit, etc 219-21
Comparison: Is he that tall? 232
Addition: too, as well 238
Wh-questions: Who did you send books to, and why? 252
Short questions: Who with? 255
Hypothetical meaning: If I was younger . . ., I wish I was dead 285-6, 825
Appearance: He looks as if hes ill 305
Negative intensifies: a bit 317
Permission: Is it all right if . . . ? 340
Obligation: Ive got to 341-2, Youd better 343
Greetings of introduction: Hello 358
Beginning and ending letters: Dear George, Love from Janet, 360
Regrets: Im sorry I was unable . . . 361
Changing the subjects: by the way 369
Reinforcement: in any case, anyway 371
Positive condition: Youll feel better, then 381
Negative condition: Put your overcoat on, or . . . 382
Alternatives: or else 385
Unlinked clauses 389
Substitutes: - Who wants to play? Me 398, do that (instead of do so) 400,
You can borrow my pen, if you want 403
Emphatic topic: Joe his name is 427
Subject-verb inversion: Here comes the bus 431
Demonstrative + wh-clause: This is how you start the engine 438
Adverbs with adjective form: he was dead drunk 461, He spoke loud and clear 463
Commands: Somebody let me out 521

Comment clauses: Hes a pacifist, you see 522

Comparison: taller than me 528, 687
Concord: Neither of them have . . . , Has anybody brought their camera? 540
Interrogative and relative pronouns: Who is he marrying?, He couldnt remember
which shelf he kept it
on 581, 642, 791-4
Introductory there: Theres two patients . . . 591
Nominal that-clauses with that omitted: I knew he was wrong 640
N