CAE Writing: Formal vs Informal: Phrasal Verbs

One of the characteristic features that differentiate  formal and informal English is use of phrasal verbs. Phrasal verbs are most typical of informal letters whereas in formal writing one-word verbs would be much preferred. Below is the list of some commonly used phrasal verbs and their one-word equivalents with example sentences.

PHRASAL VERBS	ONE-WORD VERBS
come along Ever since the Pears came along 3 years ago....	arrive Ever since the Pears arrived in the neighbourhood three years ago...
give up hope of I finally gave up hope of getting used to it.	despair of I finally despaired of getting accustomed to it.
wind smb up It was done just to wind me up.	provoke It was done with the sole intention of provoking me.
talk smth over I talked it over with my mates at work.	discuss I discussed the problem with my colleagues.
put in (a complaint) They suggested I put in a formal complaint.	lodge (a complaint) They suggested I lodge a complaint.
put smb through They put me through to the Social Services Department.	connect They connected me to the Social Services Department.
check out smb /smth The woman said she’d come and check it all out the next week	investigate The woman promised to investigate the matter the following week.
turn up She never turned up.	come She never came.
fix up (time) We fixed up another time.	arrange Another time was arranged.
put off They kept on putting it off.	postpone This was continually postponed.
show up One day, out of the blue, a bloke showed up.	visit Finally, a council officer visited.
pass on to He left after five minutes, saying he’d pass the matter on to the other department.	refer to After a brief inspection, the officer said he would refer the case to the other department.
make out She kept phoning the police about her neighbours, making out they had threatened to kill the birds.	claim / pretend She had been phoning the police, claiming that the Lampreys had threatened to kill the birds.
go by Well, 12 months have gone by now.	elapse Twelve months have elapsed since the officer came.
turn out It turned out he was the one that kept all the money for himself.	transpire It transpired that he kept all the money for himself.
bring back I told him it was his job to bring back peace and quiet to the neighbourhood.	restore I felt it was the Council’s job to restore peace and quiet to the neighbourhood.
put up with I wasn’t going to put up with another six months of being messed about.	tolerate I was no longer prepared to tolerate the situation.
talk into I’m really happy they have talked you into giving a lecture.	persuade I am so glad that you have been persuaded to give a lecture.
join in Mrs. Pear joined in.	enter (the quarrel) Mt Pear’s wife Dolores entered the quarrel.
do up They’ve recently done up the club meeting room.	redecorate The club meeting room has been recently redecorated.
cut off Our village is rather cut off.	isolate Our village is rather isolated.
put up You could be put up with  one of our members.	accommodate We could arrange for you to be accommodated with one of our members.
make up for I hope it’ll make up for having to stay overnight.	compensate for I hope it will compensate for the inconvenience of having to stay overnight.
come down with I was sorry you were coming down with flue.	catch I was sorry to hear that you felt you had caught influenza.
get over I hope you’ll get it over by the time of the meeting	recover I hope that you will have recovered by the time of the meeting.
tell off He got told off for being late quite often.	reprimand He was  repeatedly reprimanded for being late.
set up I hear he sets up very long talks.	organise He is said to organise talks which are too long.
done in All of us were done in at the end of a long day’s work.	exhausted Most members feel exhausted at the end of a long day’s work.
put out I do hope you won’t be put out.	offend I hope you will not be offended.
bring out (a book) He has brought out a book on his travels around Europe.	publish A book on his travels throughout Europe has been published.
pick up Because of this I picked up a better insight into the way we understand language.	gain This enabled me to gain a significant insight into the way we comprehend language..
talk out of I wish you would talk your boys out of playing loud music.	dissuade from I would be very grateful if you could dissuade your sons from playing loud music.
bring up I'd like to bring up the issue of publicity.	raise I would like to raise the issue of publicity.
carry on / go on He said he’d carry on studying abroad.	persist with He assured us that he would persist with his studies abroad.
back up They have no evidence whatsoever to back up their claims.	support There does not appear to be any evidence to support their claims.
carry out If Russia doesn’t carry out the promise, further sanctions will follow.	fulfil Should Russia not fulfil the pledge, we shall be obliged to impose further sanctions.

CAE Writing: Formal vs Informal: Vocabulary

Formal Equivalents of Commonly Used  

Informal Verbs, Nouns, 

Adjectives and Adverbials

   

 

 

1. VERBS

Informal	Formal	Example Sentences
go / leave	depart	The train departs at 6 a.m.
keep	retain	You retain the right to take legal action if you do not accept his decision. Please retain your receipt for future reference.
stop	cease	Whether the protests will cease remains to be seen. The company has decided to cease all UK operations after this year.
work	function	Flights were delayed because the airport computer system was not functioning (properly).
chew	masticate	This meat is difficult to masticate.
show	demonstrate	We asked them to come and demonstrate the new invoicing system to the staff.
live	reside	The family now resides in southern France.
seem	appear	They appear very disappointed. There appears to be a problem with the car.
shorten	abbreviate	“Chief Executive Officer” is abbreviated as “CEO”.
end	terminate	How do I terminate my subscription? The takeover talks terminated without agreement.
help	assist aid	The coordinator will assist the director with all aspects of event-planning. New technologies are aiding disabled people in the workplace.
begin	initiate commence	The bank initiated legal proceedings against a former employee for fraud. Unfortunately, he commenced speaking before all the guests finished eating.
want	desire require	The hotel had everything you could possibly desire. This project will require massive investment.
get	obtain	First editions of these books are now almost impossible to obtain.
free	liberate release	They said they sent troops in to liberate the country from the dictator. The club has agreed to release three of its players from contract.
eat	consume	He consumes vast quantities of chips with every meal.

2. NOUNS

lack	deficiency	Deficiencies in the education system have been much in the news.
sight	vision	She has very little vision in her left eye.
home	residence	She took up residence in Canada.
breathing	respiration	Her respiration was slow and difficult.
sleep-walker	somnambulist	There is plenty of scientific evidence to suggest that sleepwalkers, or somnambulists, can engage in complex behavior.
understanding	comprehension	He has no comprehension of the size of the problem.
sweat	perspiration	Beads of perspiration glistened on his brow.

3. ADJECTIVES

wrong	incorrect	It’s incorrect to adtess people by their first names at these formal events.
friendly	amiable	So amiable was the mood of the meeting that a decision was soon reached.
empty	vacant	The hospital has no vacant beds.
mad	insane	For the last ten years of his life he was clinically insane.
cheap	inexpensive	It’s an inexpensive perfume.
lively	animated vivacious	She was dark-haired and vivacious. There was an extremely animated discussion on the subject.
better	superior	This is clearly the work of a superior artist.
worse	inferior	These products are inferior to those we bought last year.
childish	immature infantile	I called someone an emotionally immature moron. These beauties spend their time exchanging infantile jokes suitable for the playground.
enough	sufficient	This recipe should be sufficient for five people.
older	senior	Senior pupils are expected to set an example to the younger children.
younger	junior	My sister is my junior by five years.
whole	entire complete	Between them they ate an entire cake. … a complete list of courses offered by a university...

4. ADVERBIALS

next / later	subsequently	In 1982 he was arrested and subsequently convicted on drug trafficking charges.
mostly / mainly	principally	The advertising campaign is aimed principally at women.
so	consequently therefore	I spent most of my money in the first week and consequently had very little to eat by the end of the holiday.
at first	initially	Initially, most people approved of the new plan.
in the end	ultimately	Everything will ultimately depend on what is said at the meeting with the directors next week.

Sources:
1. Cory H, Advanced writing with English in use: CAE., OUP, 2009.
2. Cambridge Dictionaries Online.