formal writing

Structure of Writing

•Beginning/Opening •main idea •Paragraph 1

•Body(2-3 paragraphs) sub-ideas •use introducing points

•Conclusion( last paragraph)•match the opening

•friendly letters

•school magazine articles•compositions•summaries

•answers to the reading compositions

•→ requires formal register

not appropriate

•••••••••

contracted or short forms of verbs×it's √it is

×I'm √I am

×won't √will not×hasn't √ has not

•words or phrases that belong to the friendly register

•×It'll do you good.•√It will benefit you.

•slang（俚语）words and phrases

•×guy/bloke/dude •√man

•×You need to chilla. •√You should relax.•×He's well safe.

•√He is a very good person.

•humour-most of the topics are of a serious nature, or factual•exclamation marks •×!•√.

•personal style

The tools for formal writing

••••••••••

1. Time fixer phrases（时间连接词）NowadaysThese daysUntil now

Every day/week/yearRecently

For many yearsIn the past Ten years agoIn the last

few/five/days/weeks/months/years

•Usually used in the first paragraph and to state social phenomenon or the fact.

•Generally, after time-fixer, you need to express your ideas.

•Nowadays, most teenagers own a mobile phone.social phenomenon•For many years, environmentalists have been warning about the effects of global warming.social phenomenon

•Thirty years ago, nearly all children went to single sex schools.fact

2.Introducing points

Remember: limit the ideas, opinions or suggestions to a maximum of three.

How to introduce points chronologically:Firstly,Secondly,Thirdly,

The most important/ mainpoint/ reasonis ...Another point/ reasonis ...

The last/ finalpoint/ reasonis...

•To begin/start with,•In addition/ Moreover/

Furthermore/Besides/ What's more,

•Finally, Eventually, •On the one hand,•On the other hand,

Conclusion

•To sum up•In a word•In short•In brief•All in all•In summary•In general

•To conclude/ In conclusion•

On the whole

How to support your ideas

•Too much school work already--Everyday we spend our entire evening prep doing homework and we still do not have enough time to finish it

--We would rather play computer games, we need to relax after school

•We can meet people who are going through similar situations as us and have someone to relate to.

--We can meet people with similar interests and share techniques with each other such as painting. We can share traditional Chinese painting(oil) and learn about other countries’ painting styles like water, color, sketch etc.

--Maybe we can learn something from them such as details…

•People our age already spend too much time on electronic devices we do not need another reason for spending to much time on computers

--Nowadays teenagers are addicted to

tencent-QQ , wechat, computer games etc. and they do not focus on other important parts in life such as: having human interaction, exercise or studying.

--The national holiday alone-many students-including myself spent the vast majority of time wasting my holiday on the computer.--Computers are bad for our health.

•We can learn about other cultures.--Culture is important to learn about.

--Learning about other’s culture can broaden our horizons and help us learn new things. We can learn new recipes, languages, holidays, traditions and ways of life.