Formal academic writing avoids slang, contractions and vague words. Replace “well good” with “very effective”, “loads of people think” with “many people believe” and “get” with obtain, receive or become.
Watch common errors: fewer (countable) vs less (uncountable), principal (main) vs principle (rule), and data (often plural in formal writing).
Formal writing is not the same as complicated writing. The goal is clarity and precision, not long words for their own sake.
Worked example
Rewrite formally: “The ending was well good and loads of readers loved it.”
- Replace slang: well good → highly effective.
- Replace loads of → many.
Answer:The ending was highly effective, and many readers admired it.
Key words
- formal
- suitable for serious or official writing
- precise
- exact
- slang
- very informal words
Practise this
New questions every time.
Common Core-referenced: L.9-10.3