Myriora English › Words › Chapter 3: Word collections
Formal words
Ages 9–11Chapter 3 · Lesson 9✓ Watched
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Practise
Ten new questions every time. Answer them all, then check: you get your score, and the working for anything you missed.
In this lesson
- Formal words are for letters, reports and notices.
- Require, obtain, assist and purchase mean need, get, help and buy.
- Commence, inform, request and depart mean start, tell, ask for and leave.
- And chatty messages need everyday words.
Your turn
Which is the formal word for help?
Show the answer
Assist! To assist someone is to help them.
The common mistake
Here's a common mistake. Using formal words in a chatty message. Hi Gran, I wish to inform you that we have obtained a puppy! That sounds like a letter from a bank! Hi Gran, guess what? We've got a puppy!
Try it at home
Formal or chatty? Say a sentence in everyday words (we need to buy milk), then make it formal (we require milk to be purchased) and laugh at how stiff it sounds.
Read the whole lesson
Hello, and welcome to Myriora English! When we chat with friends, we use everyday words. But in letters, reports and notices, we often use formal words instead.
Here are some formal words, with their everyday meanings. Require is a formal way to say need. Obtain means get. Assist means help. And purchase means buy.
Here are four more. Commence means start. Inform means tell. Request means ask for. And depart means leave.
Let's try one together. What is the everyday word for purchase? Say it out loud!
Buy! To purchase something is to buy it. Well done if you said buy!
Here's a common mistake. Using formal words in a chatty message. Hi Gran, I wish to inform you that we have obtained a puppy! That sounds like a letter from a bank! Hi Gran, guess what? We've got a puppy!
Your turn! Which is the formal word for help? Pick the right card. You've got eight seconds, or pause the video. Go!
Time's up! Assist! To assist someone is to help them.
Quick review. Formal words are for letters, reports and notices. Require, obtain, assist and purchase mean need, get, help and buy. Commence, inform, request and depart mean start, tell, ask for and leave. And chatty messages need everyday words. See you next time!