Lesson 18
Теория (Formal vs Informal Register)
Register = уровень формальности языка,
который мы выбираем в зависимости от:
- цели общения
- аудитории
- формата (письмо / речь)
- контекста
👉 На C1 важно осознанно управлять регистром.
Когда какой регистр нужен?
Informal
✔ friends
✔ chats, messages
✔ blogs
✔ speaking Part 1
Formal
✔ essays
✔ reports
✔ proposals
✔ official emails
✔ academic / professional contexts
Vocabulary: informal → formal
| Informal | Formal |
| a lot of | a considerable amount of |
| get | obtain / receive |
| help | assist |
| deal with | address |
| start | commence |
| end | terminate / conclude |
| big | significant / substantial |
| find out | discover / ascertain |
| think | consider / believe |
Grammar differences (C1 focus)
Personal → Impersonal
❌ I think this is a problem.
✔ It is widely believed that this is a problem.
❌ We should do something.
✔ Action should be taken.
Active → Passive
❌ They introduced the law last year.
✔ The law was introduced last year.
Simple → Complex structures
✔ relative clauses
✔ participle clauses
✔ cleft sentences
Having analysed the data, several conclusions were drawn.
Avoiding informal features (C1 must!)
❌ Contractions
- don’t → do not
- it’s → it is
❌ Phrasal verbs (basic ones)
- put off → postpone
- come up with → propose
❌ Direct questions
❌ What do you think?
✔ It may be argued that…
Discourse markers & tone
Informal
- anyway
- actually
- you know
- I mean
Formal
- nevertheless
- furthermore
- in addition
- however
Hedging & caution (very C1)
Formal writing avoids strong claims:
❌ This will solve the problem.
✔ This may help to address the issue.
❌ Everyone agrees…
✔ It is generally accepted that…
Examples: same idea, different register
Informal
I think people don’t care enough about the environment, so we need stricter rules.
Formal
It may be argued that insufficient public awareness necessitates the introduction of stricter regulations.
🔥 That’s C1.