正式語言與非正式語言.doc

正式語言與非正式語言.口語與書面語的區(qū)別 1. 從詞匯選擇來看語體的區(qū)別 A. 名詞 (a) 抽象名詞作主語 抽象名詞作主語多見于書面體.正式用語.如: The success of the book brought him tremendous popularity. (very formal) The book was highly successful and made him a very popular writer. (colloquial) (b) 以表示事物的名詞作為通常屬于人的行為.動作的主體時.常見于書面體,在口語體中.一般采用較樸實的說法(如:把書面體中的動詞改為意義相近的其他動詞.或改為以人為主語).如: His knowledge is insufficient to enable him to complete this task. (formal) He is not competent enough to do this job. (colloquial) The manufacture of these goods is acquiring importance as an industry. (formal) The manufacture of these goods is becoming an important industry. (colloquial) (c) 有重復(fù)主語的句子 有重復(fù)主語的句子一般只用于日常用語.不用于正式場合.如: Jim and I took the long road. (for-mal)Jim and I. we took the long road. (informal) (d) 以there為開首的句子.主語與謂語在數(shù)上一致的是正式語言.不一致的是非正式語言. There are a group of children ready to sing songs. (formal) There is a group of children ready to sing songs. (informal) (e) 所有格 The hood of the car is insulated. (formal) The cars hood is insulated. (informal) (f) 縮略語與全稱 正式語言常用全稱.非正式語言常用縮略語.雖然在正式語言中用縮略語的情況越來越多.但在非正式語言中縮略語用得更多.如:TV. VOA. BBC. VIP. etc. 當(dāng)然在一些個別場合.書面語中可用縮略語.而口語中不使用. (g) 關(guān)于單復(fù)數(shù) 在泛指時.用復(fù)數(shù)偏通俗化.用the加單數(shù)比較文氣.如:The cow is a useful animal. (a little literary) Cows are useful animals. (a little vulgar) B. 形容詞 口語體中所用的形容詞往往是人們最常用的形容詞.這些形容詞往往一詞多義,而書面體中所用的形容詞則往往不那么常用.這些形容詞的含義往往不如口語體中所用的形容詞的含義那么廣泛.但其含義卻往往具體.有特殊性.C. 副詞 與形容詞同形的英文副詞往往用于口語.但詩歌中有時也用這種形式.然而.這些詞卻很少用于其他方面的正式用語.如: Work slowly and steadily. (formal) Work slow and steady. (informal) D. 介詞 在一些狀語或定語中.省略介詞的屬于口語.保留介詞的屬于書面語.如: It happened the day he did the experiment. (informal) It happened on the day on which he did the experiment. (formal) Ill come in the following spring. (formal) Ill come the following spring. (colloquial E. 代詞 (a) 口語中多省略作主語的代詞.如:Havent seen you for ages! (informal)(b) 關(guān)于mine. his. yours. Ours當(dāng)mine. his. yours. ours等物主代詞作賓語或表語時.可用于書面語.也可用于口語.但如果這種物主代詞(或名詞所有格)作主語放在句首.并暗指表語名詞所用的概念.那就是一種比較文雅的說法了.如: His (or Mr. Lis) is a noble character. 在日?？谡Z中一般這么用:His (or Mr. Lis) character is a noble one. / He has a noble character.但下面這類句子對書面語和口語都適用:Your teacher and mine are talking in the room.(c) we. I在一些正式場合.作者或演講人為了表示謙虛.往往避免用I.而用we代替.如:As we showed a moment ago . (formal) As I said a moment ago . (not so formal)(d) you. we用we代替you是一種表示客氣的語言.如:Dont worry about your shoes! (imperative) Why dont we not worry about your shoes. OK ? (polite)(e) you. one在翻譯中文任何人.誰都等時.譯成one為formal language.譯成you為informal language.如: One must love ones country. (formal) You must love your country. (informal) (f) 關(guān)于I. me. he. him. etc. He says she saw you and me. (formal) He says she saw you and I. (informal) F. 動名詞 在書面語中.一般用物主代詞或名詞所有格來修飾動名詞短語.以表示行為者.如: Mr. Li dislikes Zhang Huis coming home late. There will be little chance of my visiting the place again. Li Wens falling ill suddenly gave me a surprise. 口語中一般以代詞的賓格或名詞普通格加分詞.for加賓語加不定式.從句.獨立句等方式表達.如:Mr. Li dislikes Zhang Hui coming home late. There will be little chance for me to visit the place again. Li Wen fell ill suddenly. This gave me a surprise. G. 關(guān)于縮寫 用縮寫形式多為非正式語言.而用非縮寫形式多為正式語言.如:do not. we are. I am. I have. there is. cannot. will not等多見于正式語言.而dont. were. Im. Ive. theres. cant. wont多見于非正式語言.exam. bike等多用于口語.examination. bicycle等多用于書面語.oh. dear. why. well等是口語中常見的感嘆詞. 2. 從句法來看語體的區(qū)別 A. 修飾語 在書面文字中.修飾語可以與中心詞相隔較遠(yuǎn).修飾語也可以較長.而在口語中則相反.如: There exist complex computations in science and engineering which people are unable to make. (written) There are complex computations in science and engineering. and people are unable to make those computations. (colloquial) B. 句子的長短 一般來說.書面語句子較長.口語句子較短. (a) 議論文.商業(yè)或法律公文等書面語不僅常用較長的修飾語.而且有時用較長的插入語.甚至插入語中還有插入語.但在一般的口語中則不用較長的插入語.常用的較短插入語有:of course. for example. I believe. I think. you see. you know. to be frank. etc. (b) 在書面語中.一個句子有時有好幾個關(guān)系代詞,而口語中關(guān)系代詞則用的極少.往往被分成幾個簡單句.如:These needles. which were made of fish-shaped pieces of iron that floated on water. were acted on by the earths magnetic field. (formal) These needles were made of fish-shaped pieces of iron that floated on water. They were acted on by the earths magnetic field. (informal) C. 關(guān)于時態(tài) 在現(xiàn)在的口語中.有時用過去時代替現(xiàn)在完成時.如:-Is anybody using this chair? -No. I saved it for you. 在口語中常用現(xiàn)在時代替將來時.如: She is coming tomorrow. 在口語中有時用一般現(xiàn)在時說明一個已經(jīng)發(fā)生了的動作.如: He says it is very important. D. 虛擬語氣 (a)不夠熟悉的人之間對話.或在正式場合演講.對話時.一般用虛擬語氣來陳述自己的看法.提出請求或邀請.提出建議或勸告.提出問題.如: If Mr. Wang was here now. he would tell you about it. (informal) If Mr. Wang were here now. he would tell you about it. (formal) (b) 有一些表示主觀愿望和情緒的形容詞.如desirous等要求后面的狀語從句的謂語動詞用虛擬語氣.這種結(jié)構(gòu)主要用于書面語中.口語中往往用不定式來代替這種從句.如: He was anxious that we should stay for dinner. (formal) He was anxious to have us stay for dinner. (informal) E. 語序 在書面語中.為了使句子平衡對稱.或為了表示強調(diào).常把狀語.表語.賓語等成分放在句首.并將主謂次序顛倒過來,而口語體則一般用自然語序. F. 關(guān)于省略 (a) 在正式文字或正式場合的對話中.一般要用完整的句子.在口語中用省略句較多.主要是為了節(jié)省時間.使對話自然.生動.簡潔.有力.如:Where to go now? Why not do it this way? (b) 在正式語言中.所省略的部分一般都是前邊出現(xiàn)過的.如:He had finished the work and gone home. (c) 關(guān)系代詞在限定性定語從句中做謂語動詞賓語或介詞賓語時.在口語中一般省去.如: The girl you spoke to just now is my sister. (d) 賓語從句前的that在口語中往往省去.表語后面的從句之前的that在口語中也常省去.如: He said he would go to London. Im afraid he is right. G. 主謂語的一致性 在有些情況下.非正式語言中常按意思決定動詞的單復(fù)數(shù).所以主語和謂語在數(shù)上可能不一致.如: Neither he nor his wife have arrived. (informal) Neither he nor his wife has arrived. (formal)(David Park designs & teaches IELTS courses for individuals & groups. He was contracted by the British Council to provide this article.) A student preparing for IELTS (International English Language Testing System) sent me this query: “I dont know if spark off is a formal word or not. How can I tell the difference between formal and informal words?” Heres what I said to her in my reply: English has three main styles: formal, informal and popular. Formal English Formal English is mainly used in writing. This style is academic in tone and is commonly used in academic textbooks, most university essays, business letters and contracts. In the case of speaking, formal English is usually only used for official or serious occasions, e.g., to formally welcome guests at a university graduation ceremony. Formal English uses more complex vocabulary than everyday speech. For example, it uses many “bigger” words that arent normally used in conversation. Examples are multi-syllable words like compensate, ascend and interrogate. It also prefers one-part verbs (e.g., establish) instead of simpler, phrasal verbs (e.g., set up). Slang and colloquial vocabulary are avoided. When formal English is used in writing, sentences tend to be long and complex, and grammar rules are followed strictly. It tends to be impersonal (or neutral), often using impersonal pronouns like it and passive verbs. Contracted and abbreviated forms of words are usually avoided. Informal & popular English Informal English is the language spoken by most people every day. Its also widely used in emails and letters to friends. Speakers of informal English arent very concerned about their vocabulary. For example, informal English uses many short words (e.g., fire, climb and ask), much colloquial vocabulary (e.g., stuff, a lot of, thing and sort of) and multi-part verbs (e.g., set up instead of establish). Informal English is also more relaxed about grammar rules than formal English, using simpler grammatical structures and loosely-connected sentences and phrases. When used in writing, informal English uses first and second person points-of-view (e.g., I, you and we) to create a more personal style than formal English. Contractions (e.g., its instead of it is) are also very common. As well, informal English tends to use shorter sentences than in more formal writing, and the more formal punctuation marks the semi-colon (;) and colon (:) are usually avoided. Popular English is rarely used in writing, being used mostly in spoken English. It includes a good bit of slang. Slang is words or expressions that are very informal and are not considered suitable for polite speech or more formal situations. Slang is often used only by particular social groups or professions. More on phrasal verbs When people speak or write informally, they often use phrasal verbs (also called multi-word or multi-part verbs). Here are some examples. The formal, one-word verb with the same meaning is in brackets. Phrasal verbs & single-word equivalents ask for (request) go down with (contract) set up (establish) deal with (handle) find out (discover) take in (deceive) Phrasal verbs are very common in spoken English. However, theyre usually less formal than their one-word verb equivalents. In formal writing, writers often prefer to use single-word verbs, such as examine or devise, rather than phrasal verbs, such as look at or come up with. Compare the pairs of verbs in the next table. Though theres a tendency to use fewer phrasal verbs in formal language, its not wrong to use them. Nevertheless, if theres a one-word verb thats more formal, then use it. Dont think that a few phrasal verbs in your IELTS writing will make it too informal. In fact, there are many situations - even in quite formal texts - when a phrasal verb is the most natural-sounding way of expressing an idea. For instance, put on is much more natural than the formal, single-word equivalent don. Informal More formal He checked up on his accountant. He investigated his accountant. They put up with their neighbours. They tolerated their neighbours. She caught on very quickly. She understood very quickly. She made up for it with an early night. She compensated for it with an early night. He went down with a fever. He contracted a fever. The cost of living went up. The cost of living increased/rose. Telling the difference Its usually easy to decide if a word is informal or formal. Informal words are those common, ordinary and familiar words that people use every day, whereas formal words tend to be the more “serious” and less frequently used words. Often, formal words are longer than informal words. Single-word verbs are also usually more formal than their phrasal verb equivalents. For instance, saying something is enormous is formal, but saying its whopping is informal. Phrases like on the one hand or as indicated above are formal, but phrases like by the way or that reminds me are informal. Note that some informal words are more formal than other informal words. The informal verb understand, for example, is more formal than the informal verb get. However, both are less formal than the formal verb comprehend. IELTS uses a semi-formal style The IELTS website says academic essays may use “a neutral or slightly formal style of writing.” This means your IELTS academic writing may use slightly less formal vocabulary (e.g., phrasal verbs like spark off instead of cause) as well as words that are more formal. It may also use the complex grammar of formal English, or it may use slightly simpler grammatical structures. However, the more formal the vocabulary and the more complex the grammar is, the higher the IELTS score. In the case of vocabulary, for instance, the scoring scheme gives higher scores when “l(fā)ess common” or “uncommon lexical items” (words or phrases) are used which is what formal vocabulary is. Click here to see the scoring scheme. Heres my advice for vocabulary for academic essays in the IELTS exam: Use a more formal one-word verb if it sounds more appropriate than its phrasal verb equivalent. Avoid using a personal or conversational style (as if youre talking to the examiner). Therefore, try not to use words like I, me, my, you, we, us and our. Though these words are widely used in informal writing and in spoken English, theyre generally thought to be too personal and too casual for formal, academic writing. If you wish, you may use the pronoun I to introduce your opinions. However, I recommend that you limit its use to the introduction and the closing paragraph. That way, youll avoid the risk of making your essay sound too conversational or overly personal. Avoid words or phrases used mainly in normal conversation as theyre usually not suitable for use in academic writing. Dictionaries often identify these words with the label “informal.” In your essay, use a more formal equivalent. Here are some examples: Avoid Use kids children OK all right; acceptable a lot of much; many heaps many; a great deal Never use colloquial English or slang. Colloquial English is a type of informal English, and it includes words such as gonna or wanna, and phrases such as aint nothin and dead as a doornail. Dictionaries usually mark colloquial words and phrases with a label like “colloq.” Because colloquial English and slang are usually spoken rather than written, theyll make your academic writing sound too conversational and so less credible. Although its usual to contract words in spoke