IXL | Which sentence is more formal? | 7th grade language arts

Which sentence is more formal?

The new government has lots to do, and its leader really wants to change things.

The new government has much to accomplish, and its leader is determined to pass new legislation.

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Which sentence is more formal?

The principal said that a lot of students graduating from Oakville High School got into the colleges they wanted to go to.

The principal announced that half of Oakville High School's graduating class had been accepted to their top-choice colleges.

Formal writing is used for essays, business letters, and reports. The following types of informal language should be avoided in formal writing:

Type	Examples
slang	cool, funky, dude
idioms	knock your socks off
conversational language	gonna, kinda, yeah
abbreviated language	ASAP, btw, b/c
overly simple or imprecise language	he got some stuff at the store
contractions	can't, won't

Contractions are not as informal as the other types, but they should be used sparingly in formal writing.

Compare the following sentences. The first is informal. The second is formal.

Informal:

Yeah, ostriches can't fly, but they're awesome runners.

Formal:

Though ostriches are flightless, they are remarkably adept runners.

This sentence is more formal:

The principal announced that half of Oakville High School's graduating class had been accepted to their top-choice colleges.

This sentence is less formal:

The principal said that a lot of students graduating from Oakville High School got into the colleges they wanted to go to.

You can tell because it uses overly simple or imprecise language (said, a lot of, got into).

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