Formal and informal words 1
Formality -> all about your relatioship with the person you’re speaking or writing to.
Formal language -> respect, politeness,…
Informal language -> friendliness, equality, closeness, solidarity,…
Formal Neutral Informal
Offspring Children Kids
Abode/ residence House/ flat/ home Place
Goodbye Bye Bye-bye
Go amiss Go wrong Go pear-shaped
(page 196-197)
Proverbs
Proverb Paraphrase
Don’t count your chickens before they hatch Don’t depend on something happening,
because it may not
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket Don’t invest all your efforts or attention in just
one thing
Never judge a book by its cover Don’t’ judge people/things by their outward
appearance
Never look a gift-horse in the mouth Never refuse good fortune when it is there in
front of you
Take care of the pennies and the pounds will Take care of small sums of money and they
take care of themselves will become large sums
We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it We’ll deal with that problem when it actually
happen
When the cat’s away, the mice play -> people will take advantage of someone else’s absence to
behave more freely.
You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink -> you can try to persuade someone,
but you can’t force them.
One swallow doesn’t make a summer -> one positive sign does not mean that all will be well.
There’s no smoke without fire -> where there’s smoke, there’s fire -> rumours are usually based
on some degree of truth.
People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones -> don’t criticise others’ faults if you
suffer from them yourself.
Too many cooks spoil the broth -> too many people interfering is a bad way of doing things.
Many hands make light work -> a lot of people helping makes a job easier.
Page 202-203
Pagina 1 van 3
English Vocabulary in Us
Formality -> all about your relatioship with the person you’re speaking or writing to.
Formal language -> respect, politeness,…
Informal language -> friendliness, equality, closeness, solidarity,…
Formal Neutral Informal
Offspring Children Kids
Abode/ residence House/ flat/ home Place
Goodbye Bye Bye-bye
Go amiss Go wrong Go pear-shaped
(page 196-197)
Proverbs
Proverb Paraphrase
Don’t count your chickens before they hatch Don’t depend on something happening,
because it may not
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket Don’t invest all your efforts or attention in just
one thing
Never judge a book by its cover Don’t’ judge people/things by their outward
appearance
Never look a gift-horse in the mouth Never refuse good fortune when it is there in
front of you
Take care of the pennies and the pounds will Take care of small sums of money and they
take care of themselves will become large sums
We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it We’ll deal with that problem when it actually
happen
When the cat’s away, the mice play -> people will take advantage of someone else’s absence to
behave more freely.
You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink -> you can try to persuade someone,
but you can’t force them.
One swallow doesn’t make a summer -> one positive sign does not mean that all will be well.
There’s no smoke without fire -> where there’s smoke, there’s fire -> rumours are usually based
on some degree of truth.
People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones -> don’t criticise others’ faults if you
suffer from them yourself.
Too many cooks spoil the broth -> too many people interfering is a bad way of doing things.
Many hands make light work -> a lot of people helping makes a job easier.
Page 202-203
Pagina 1 van 3
English Vocabulary in Us
