Exercise of formal and Infomal

SLc/L1.1 Recognising formal and informal situations H   ave a look at these two examples of making a request: Can I borrow your jacket? Example 1 Discuss with a friend - is the speaker talking to someone close or distant? Who might it be? What is the situation? Is it at all awkward or difficult? Is the language formal or informal? Would you mind if I gave your name as a referee? Example 2 Discuss with a friend - is the speaker talking to someone close or distant? Who might it be? What is the situation? Is it at all awkward or difficult? Is the language formal or informal? Now think about the situations and relationships represented in the table below. Decide on the speaker and the situation, and think of a suitably formal or informal expression for the occasion. There are no right or wrong answers. Talk with a friend to see if they agree with your suggestions. Situation Speakers Situation What could you say? - close or - easy or Asking for information about GP surgery hours. distant? difficult? Inviting a colleague to a meeting. Arranging a night out with a friend. Phoning to change an appointment with your child’s school. Checking what time your teenage daughter is coming home tonight. © BBC 2011

SLc/L1.2 SLc/L1.3 Recognising formal and informal language   Situation difficult Relationship Relationship close distant Situation easy Decide where to place these examples of formal or informal language on the grid. Remember, we tend to use more informal language with people we are close to and in situations where we feel most comfortable. We are more formal with people we don’t know so well and in situations which are more difficult or uncomfortable. A. “Could you tell me how to get to the nearest post office please?” B. “More tea?” C. “You can’t go out in that!” D. “Thank you so much for all your assistance.” E. “It’s been a pleasure to meet you.” F. “Lend us a tenner ‘til tomorrow.” G. “Where’s my coat?” H. “Would you be interested in taking part in a competition? “ I. “I would like to make a complaint about your service.” J. “You can’t be serious!” Think about how close or distant the relationship between the speaker and their audience might be, and how easy or difficult the situation might be. There are lots of possible answers. Compare your answers with a friend’s. © BBC 2011

SLc/L1.1 Speaking in different situations H   ow formal or how informal we are depends on the reason for communicating and the relationship we have with the person we’re speaking to. We tend to use more informal language with people we’re close to and in situations where we feel most comfortable. We’re more formal with people we don’t know so well and in situations that are more difficult or uncomfortable. Look at these examples: A. “Could you possibly let me know whether there are any vacancies for administrators?” B. “Put the kettle on.” C. “Hi Kit - I’m really sorry, I can’t make it to your barbecue next week after all. I forgot - I promised to take the kids over to Gran’s.” D. “Congratulations on your new job. I’m really pleased for you.” What can you guess about the speakers from the degree of formality? Example Relationship Situation A. close - distant easy - difficult This is a formal request. The speaker B. The language is very polite. We can hopes the person will do as he asks - the C. guess the speakers don’t already situation is difficult’. D. know each other. The relationship is distant. This situation isn’t difficult. The language is very informal. We This could be difficult. Even friends can get can guess that the speakers know annoyed when you mess up their plans each other very well. This is an example of an easy situation. Again the language is informal. This is a close relationship. This is fairly informal language - but they’re not too close. We could use a grid to show the closeness of the relationship and the type of situation: Situation difficult CA Relationship Relationship close distant B D Situation easy © BBC 2011

Speaking formally or in Are the people below speaking formally or informally? Th Get us a couple of tickets. I would like two tickets for the show please. Yeah. Call it a tenner. Entry 1 & 2 Worksheet bbc.co Pag

nformally? here are more on page 2. Cheers for the drink. Thank you for buying me a drink. Certainly. That will be twenty pounds. o.uk/skillswise © BBC 2012 ge 1 of 2

Are the people below speaking formally or informally? W friends and family). We speak formally to people wo do Could I order the sausages, please? Good afternoon. How are you? Hiya. What’s up? Entry 1 & 2 Worksheet bbc.co Pag

We speak informally to people we know well (such as not know as well. There are more on page 1. Could you tell me how to get to the station? Where’s the station from here? Can I have bangers and mash? o.uk/skillswise © BBC 2012 ge 2 of 2