In the IELTS Writing scoring criteria, particularly for Task 2 essays, maintaining a consistent academic style is crucial for both the Lexical Resource and Grammatical Range and Accuracy criteria.
In reality, many candidates struggle to draw the line between informal everyday language and formal written language. Relying on overly casual expressions or slang can undermine the objectivity and reliability of an essay. Conversely, forced attempts to “formalize” writing by awkwardly stuffing archaic, overly complex vocabulary often make the text heavy and unnatural.
This guide from ECE English will help you master the core principles of formal and informal writing according to modern academic standards, identify common stylistic pitfalls in practice, and provide a set of precise practice exercises.
1. The Core Essence of Formal and Informal Language
Understanding the correct context and purpose will help you choose appropriate vocabulary for each part of the IELTS test.
1.1 Formal Language
Formal language in academic writing aims for precision, objectivity, and deep argumentation. Its defining features are logically presented information, clear sentence structures, and minimal expressions of personal emotion.
Context of use: Academic essays (IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 & 2), research reports, administrative documents, or the formal letter-writing section in IELTS General Training Task 1.
1.2 Informal Language
Informal language is natural, flexible, and used in everyday communication when speakers share a close relationship. This style typically features short sentences, conversational abbreviations, and a high degree of subjectivity.
Context of use: Everyday conversations, text messages, personal emails, or letter-writing tasks addressed to friends or family in IELTS General Training Task 1.
2. Identifying Characteristics of Formal and Informal Styles
The differences between these two linguistic styles are clearly reflected in vocabulary and sentence structure:
2.1 Lexical Aspect
Vocabulary Choice: Formal style prioritizes terms with precise, objective meanings rather than emotional words or slang.
Informal: The party was so lit. / The movie was awesome.
Formal: The event was well-organized. / The film was highly influential.
Perspective on Phrasal Verbs: A common misconception is that all phrasal verbs are informal. In fact, modern academic writing frequently uses neutral and highly academic phrasal verbs such as carry out, focus on, lead to / result in, point out. Writers only need to avoid colloquial or conversational phrasal verbs (such as check out, go down like crazy, turn up).
Contractions: In a formal style, write out spoken contractions in full (e.g., do not, cannot, it is instead of don’t, can’t, it’s). However, internationally recognized abbreviations or academic titles (such as IELTS, UN, NGO, PhD) are entirely acceptable.
2.2 Grammatical Aspect
Balance Between Active and Passive Voice: Passive voice is a useful tool to reduce personal bias and increase objectivity in data reports. However, passive constructions should not be overused everywhere. Modern academic style still encourages active voice when the doer of an action is clear, making sentences sound more natural (e.g., Researchers found that… is more natural and concise than It was found by researchers that…).
Nominalisation: This involves converting verbs or adjectives into noun phrases to make sentences more compact and formal.
Less optimal: The population increased rapidly, which caused food shortages.
Optimized with Nominalisation: A rapid increase in population caused food shortages.
Hedging Language: Use modal verbs or probability adverbs (may, might, likely, potentially) to present arguments objectively, avoiding absolute statements when absolute evidence is lacking.
Overly absolute: This policy will fail.
Academic standard: This policy is likely to encounter significant challenges.
3. Common Stylistic Errors in IELTS Writing Task 2
3.1 Using Contractions
Contracted forms such as don’t, can’t, won’t, it’s should be written out fully as do not, cannot, will not, it is to ensure the text looks polished.
3.2 Using Overly Emotional Language and Extreme Adjectives
Academic writing must maintain a neutral perspective. Candidates should avoid biased or highly emotional words like wonderful, terrible, ridiculous, shocking.
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Less appropriate: The consequences of the crisis were truly terrible.
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More appropriate: The consequences of the crisis were severe.
3.3 Using Rhetorical Questions in Essays
Asking questions (How can governments solve this?) makes the writing conversational, which clashes with the style of an argumentative essay. Convert questions into affirmative statements.
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Less appropriate: Will this international policy work?
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More appropriate: The effectiveness of this international policy remains a subject of discussion.
3.4 Formatting Errors
In Task 2 essays, using bullet points or numbered lists (1, 2, 3) to outline ideas is inappropriate. Arguments must be written as complete sentences linked together with appropriate transition words.
4. Practice Exercises: Distinguishing Formal and Informal Styles
Part 1: Rewrite the following sentences into standard academic style
1. The company didn’t get enough investment last year.
-> ________________________________________________________________________
2. I think that implementing a new training curriculum is a good idea.
-> ________________________________________________________________________
3. The results of the scientific experiment were truly shocking and amazing.
-> ________________________________________________________________________
4. Why do many young graduates choose to work from home nowadays?
-> ________________________________________________________________________
5. The assistant sent the financial report to the director as soon as possible.
-> ________________________________________________________________________
6. Kids who spend too much time on screens might face serious health issues.
-> ________________________________________________________________________
7. The management team put off the project due to budget shortages.
-> ________________________________________________________________________
8. The results of the initial survey were truly ridiculous and unbelievable.
-> ________________________________________________________________________
9. If you take this approach to optimize the system, you will definitely succeed.
-> ________________________________________________________________________
10. The workers are very angry about the new rules implemented by the boss.
-> ________________________________________________________________________
Part 2: Choose the most natural and academic option (A or B)
11. A. The number of active users has decreased dramatically over the last few years.
B. The number of active users has gone down like crazy over the last few years.
12. A. To be honest, the director was not satisfied with the draft.
B. The executive director expressed dissatisfaction with the initial draft.
13. A. Research indicates that a rapid increase in population may cause food shortages.
B. Research shows that when the population grows fast, it makes food shortages happen.
14. A. We can choose to either study abroad or work in our home country.
B. Individuals can choose to either study abroad or work in their native country.
15. A. It is doubtful whether the newly proposed strategy will succeed.
B. But will the newly proposed strategy work? I don’t think so.
16. A. The local police are investigating the data breach incident at the university.
B. The police are checking out the data leak stuff at the university.
17. A. Those trousers are too long for me, so I need to change them.
B. The trousers require alteration to ensure a proper fit.
18. A. Many employees are seeking remote work opportunities to avoid stressful environments.
B. Lots of workers want to work from home because the office is just too stressful.
19. A. Every coin has two sides, so we must evaluate the pros and cons carefully.
B. There are two distinct sides to this argument, necessitating a careful evaluation.
20. A. The data collected from the survey is considered to be highly significant.
B. The data we got from the survey is completely wonderful and shocking.
Part 3: Complete the sentences by choosing the appropriate formal vocabulary to replace the terms in brackets
21. The university decided to ________ (give) financial scholarships to international students. (provide / hand out)
22. Medical experts are trying to ________ (look into) the long-term effects of the virus. (investigate / check out)
23. The manager approved the ________ (buying) of modern office equipment. (purchasing / getting)
24. Implementing a clear strategy is a highly ________ (cool) way to improve performance. (effective / awesome)
25. The technical error was ________ (fixed) by the engineering team yesterday. (resolved / patched up)
26. The state possesses massive financial reserves to support ________ (poor people). (the poor / broke individuals)
27. The project requires time, patience, and ________ (intense focus). (concentration / a lot of attention)
28. The transport of goods was ________ (put off) due to severe weather conditions. (postponed / delayed)
29. Candidates must complete the writing test within the ________ (given) time frame. (allocated / assigned)
30. The new software interface is modern, intuitive, and ________ (easy to use). (user-friendly / simple to deal with)
Part 4: Correct the stylistic errors in the bolded phrases by rewriting each complete sentence
31. The marketing team came up with a brilliant strategy to increase traffic.
-> ________________________________________________________________________
32. I firmly believe that environmental policies need urgent improvement.
-> ________________________________________________________________________
33. The company has forty employees and they’re all working under high pressure.
-> ________________________________________________________________________
34. The main goals of the project are: 1. Reduce costs 2. Improve quality.
-> ________________________________________________________________________
35. The assistant sent the financial report to the manager ASAP last night.
-> ________________________________________________________________________
36. Time will tell whether the integration of new software is beneficial.
-> ________________________________________________________________________
37. The local authorities can’t control the rapid growth of urban migration.
-> ________________________________________________________________________
38. The results of the technology experiment were truly ridiculous and unbelievable.
-> ________________________________________________________________________
39. You can choose to register for the intensive course starting in June.
-> ________________________________________________________________________
40. The researcher looked at the statistics to find the error.
-> ________________________________________________________________________
5. Answer Key
Part 1 Answer Key:
1. The company did not obtain sufficient investment last year. (Replaced contraction didn’t -> did not, used obtain instead of get, and sufficient instead of enough).
2. It is argued that the implementation of a new training curriculum is beneficial. (Used an objective dummy subject and nominalisation: implementing -> implementation).
3. The results of the scientific experiment were considered to be highly significant. (Removed exclamatory phrases like truly shocking and amazing).
4. The reasons why many young graduates choose to work from home remain a subject of discussion. (Converted a conversational question into an argumentative affirmative statement).
5. The assistant sent the financial report to the director as soon as possible. (Kept the natural verb sent, avoiding overly mechanical words like transmitted, and wrote out as soon as possible fully).
6. Children who spend excessive time on screens may encounter health challenges. (Replaced colloquial kids -> children, and softened the tone with may encounter instead of might face).
7. The management team postponed the project due to budget shortages. (Replaced conversational phrasal verb put off with the formal single verb postponed).
8. The results of the initial survey were considered questionable. (Corrected semantic accuracy: avoided highly insignificant, using questionable or inconsistent to match the original meaning of absurd or doubtful).
9. If this approach is taken to optimize the system, success may be achieved. (Used passive voice and softened the absoluteness of definitely by hedging with may be achieved).
10. The employees expressed dissatisfaction regarding the new rules implemented by the management. (Replaced biased colloquial terms very angry/boss with objective nouns expressed dissatisfaction/management).
Part 2 Answer Key:
11. A (Option B contains the slang phrase gone down like crazy).
12. B (Option A commits the error of using conversational personal emotion phrases like To be honest).
13. A (Option A uses nominalisation rapid increase typical of written prose, whereas option B reads like spoken explanation).
14. B (Option B replaces the first-person pronoun We with the objective noun Individuals).
15. A (Option B introduces a rhetorical question and personal pronoun I don’t think so into an essay).
16. A (Option B uses casual expressions like checking out, stuff).
17. B (Option B reads naturally and natively, removing the personal pronoun for me while avoiding over-complication).
18. A (Option B uses informal quantifier Lots of workers and the modifier just too).
19. B (Option A falls into the trap of using a cliché idiom Every coin has two sides).
20. A (Option B uses a string of personal emotional adjectives completely wonderful and shocking and the colloquial verb got).
Part 3 Answer Key:
21. provide (A formal verb suited for awarding scholarships).
22. investigate (An academic verb replacing the phrasal verb look into).
23. purchasing (An academic noun denoting the acquisition of assets).
24. effective (A precise adjective describing competence instead of the exclamation awesome).
Khai giảng Khóa học Hè cực HOT.
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