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Old 07-Feb-2007, 08:36
Tdol Tdol is offline
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Default Re: Formal / informal English

In the cafe, you might tell your friend that you were going to 'pack your job in', but when you're writing to your boss, you're more likely to use 'resign'. I think it oversimplifies things, however, to say that phrasal verbs are informal. There is a tendency to use fewer phrasal verbs in formal language, but it is not wrong to use them, especially when they are part of professional jargon. If there's a one-word verb that is more formal , then use it, but don't think that a few phrasal verbs makes a text look colloquial.
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