writing

Collected and shared by Tran Manh Trung Hong Duc University Thanh Hoa

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FORMAL AND INFORMAL WORD LIST

(Collected and selected by Tran Manh Trung Hong Duc University)

Rules for formal writing are quite strict, though often unstated. Formal writing is used in academic and

scientific settings whenever you want to convey your ideas to a wide audience, with many possible backgrounds

and assumptions. Unlike casual conversation or emails to friends, formal writing needs to be clear,

unambiguous, literal, and well structured.

Table 01:

Ord

INFORMAL/EVERYDAY

FORMAL/ACADEMIC

VIETNAMESE MEANING

01 a lot of/ loads of/ plenty of a great deal of /numerous/ several nhiu

02 a bit Somewhat (before adj. or adv.)/ slightly mt cht t

03 to get together to collaborate with sbd on smth cng tc

04 to start/to begin to initiate/to commence smth/v-ing bt u khi u

05 big large (number/percentage), considerable ln, to ln

06 thing device/object vt dng/vt th

07 stuff material cht liu, vt liu

08 to find out to ascertain/discover tm ra, tm thy

09 to do again to repeat lp li


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10 to do well to succeed thnh cng

11 to set up to establish thit lp

12 to cut down on to reduce gim bt

13 to go up to increase tng ln

14 to come up with to create to ra

15 to look into to investigate iu tra

16 to go up and down to fluctuate dao ng

17 to bring up a question to raise a question a ra vn

18 to get rid of to eliminate loi b

19 to turn down smth to refuse t chi

20 to turn out smth to produce lm ra, to ra

21 to take smth back to retract (a statement) rt li

22 to put off smth to postpone smth hon li

23 to put up with to tolerate chu ng

24 to put away smth to save tit kim, dnh

25 to put down to smth to attribute to quy cho, gn cho

26 to come about to occur xy ra

27 to give up to relinquish t b

28 to go back/give back return to swh/ smth tr li/ tr li

29 to give off smth to produce (heat) sn sinh, to ra

30 to give away to betray tit l, phn bi

31 to carry out smth to conduct tin hnh

32 to seem to appear hnh nh, dng nh

33 to climb to ascend i ln, tng ln (s lng)

34 to help to assist/ aid gip

35 to stop to cease dng li

36 to use to consume dng, tiu dng

37 to shorten to decrease/ to abbreviate gim bt/ rt ngn

37 to show to demonstrate ch ra, chng minh

38 to go to depart i, khi hnh


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39 to want to desire mong mun

40 to end to finish/ to terminate kt thc

41 to tell to inform thng tin, cho bit

42 to keep preserve/ retain gi gn/ gi

43 to say no to reject t chi

44 to free to release/ to liberate tr t do, phng thch

45 to mend/ to fix to repair sa cha

46 to need to require cn

47 to live to reside ti, tr ti

48 in the end finally/ultimately cui cng

49 at once immediately ngay lp tc

50 at the same time simultaneously/ concurrently ng thi, cng lc

51 at first initially u tin

52 on and off intermittently gin on, lc c lc khng

53 mainly principally/primarily ch yu

54 next subsequently tip theo

55 again and again repeatedly lp i lp li

56 so therefore/ consequently v th, v vy

57 understanding comprehension s hiu

58 lack deficiency s thiu ht

59 chance opportunity c hi, dp

60 sweat perspiration m hi

61 house residence ni c tr (count)

62 sight vision kh nng nhn, th gic

63 friendly amiable thn mt

64 whole complete ton b

65 lively energetically/animated y sinh lc/ sng ng

67 lucky fortunate may mn


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68 childish immature/ infantile nh tr con (tnh cch)

69 wrong incorrect/questionable sai/ c vn

70 worse inferior to thp km hn

71 cheap inexpensive r

72 dim indistinct khng r rng, m

73 mad insane in

74 to lay back to relax th gin

75 in charge of responsible for chu trch nhim

76 enough sufficient y

77 better superior to tt hn, gii hn

78 clear transparent r rng

79 empty vacant trng khng

80 to ask for to require/ to request i hi, yu cu

81 hot (topic) controversial ang gy tranh ci

82 more and more Increasingly/ unceasingly/non-stop tng ln khng ngng

83 to get to obtain/ to receive t c, ly , mua

84 bad disappointing ti t, ng tht vng

85 to get worse to deteriorate tr nn xu i

86 horrible unacceptable khng th chp nhn, kinh khng

87 to come in to enter i vo

88 to talk about to discuss tho lun

89 to go down to descend i xung, gim xung

90 to come up with to suggest gi , a ra

91 to look at to examine xem xt

92 to pin down to determine quyt tm , dt khot

93 to experience the influence of to be influenced chu nh hng

94 Lets consider It is important to consider hy cn nhc, xem xt

95 I love/like/prefer Personally, I favour Ti thch, ti ng h

96 On top of that Another point is mt im khc na l


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97 Government must make laws There is a need for laws cn c lut v

98 In a nutshell To state it briefly/ In brief tm li

99 Every coin has two sides There are advantages and disadvantages to mi vn u c u im v nhc im

100 by chance Incidentally nhn tin

101 to try to attempt/ to endeavor c gng

102 to swap to exchange trao i

103 as far as x goes in respect of / with respect to i vi, v phn

104 to skip omit/not attend smth b qua, khng tham d

105 by accident accidentally ngu nhin, tnh c

106 kids infants/offsprings tr em

107 O.K acceptable/ satisfactory c, chp nhn c

108 to make up for to compensate for n b, b li

109 to catch on smth to understand nm bt, hiu

110 to go down with a disease to contract a disease mc bnh

111 to go up to increase tng ln

112 to get in touch with to contact lin h. lin lc

113 to let somebody know to inform cho bit

114 to call off to cancel hu b, bi b

115 to sort out to resolve gii quyt, i n quyt nh

116 to deal with to handle/ to address gii quyt, x l

117 small minimal/limited/ modest nh, b

118 to think of to conceive of/imagine ngh v, suy tnh

119 about an estimated, approximately, roughly khong chng

120 to do (research) to carry out, perform, undertake tin hnh (nghin cu), m nhim

121 hard difficult, problematic,challenging kh khn

122 to keep up to maintain duy tr

123 a lot a substantial amount, a considerable sum nhiu

124 stand for denote, represent ch, thay cho

126 next adjacent k cn


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127 prove confirm khng nh

128 rich affluent, wealthy, prosperous giu c

129 the same as equivalent to ging nhau, tng ng

130 drink beverage (count) ung

131 man male n ng

132 old people senior citizens, retirees ngi cao tui

133 crooks offenders, lawbreakers ti phm

134 great, awesome preferable, desirable tuyt vi, ng ao c

135 sick of, fed up with dissatisfied with khng hi lng

136 feature characteristic c im

137 before Prior to trc

138 to think (that) to assume (that) cho rng

139 Because Owing to or due to the fact that/As a result of v

140 Nobody can say It is impossible to predict Khng c th d on trc

141 I think that It seems that/ It could be argued that nNi ta ni rng

142 About Regarding/ Concerning V, v phn

143 And as well as cn, cng nh

144 but while/whereas nng, khi m

145 to write a cheque to issue a checque vit t ngn phiu

146 carefull/cautious prudent (imprudent)/prudential cn thn, thn trng

147 to check to verify kim tra

148 to agree with to be bound by ng vi

149 to go over exeed vt qu, qu mc

150 to hand / to give to submit trnh ln, np

152 In accordance with Pursuant to Ph hp vi

153 to involve to entail ko theo, km theo

154 lost inadvertently mislaid v tnh tht lc

155 to make sure to ensure m bo rng

156 to order to authorise u quyn


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157 to pay to settle tr tin, thanh ton

158 to supply to furnish cung cp

159 to take away to withdraw ly ra, rt (tin) ra

160 when we get On receipt of Khi nhn c

161 Whenever we like / want Without prior notice Khng bo trc

162 One after the other At regular intervals u n

163 There are no big differences between No significant differences emerges between Khng c s khc bit ng k no

164 This shows that This demonstrates that iu ny ch ra rng

165 to put smth into action To be implemented/ carried out c tin hnh, c a vo hot ng

166 etc./ and so forth./ and so on. among other examples v v.v

167 i.e namely, / that is, tc l, chng hn

168 e.g For example, v d

169 vs. versus/as apposed of chng li, ngc vi

170 nice/ cute attractive hp dn, li cun

171 smart intelligent thng minh

172 come arrive n

173 lifestyle way of life / manner of life li sng

174 19th century The nineteenth century Khng vit tt

175 workmate colleague ng nghip

176 tired exhausted mt mi

177 drunk intoxicated b say ru

178 sad dejected bun, chn nn

179 who whom ( i t tn ng, sau gii t) ai

180 to get your money back refund your payment ly li tin

181 to pay your bills to settle your account tr tin ho n mua hng, thanh ton

182 really extremely cc k, v cng

183 to go up to to reach ln ti (con s), t ti

184 to work to function hot ng

185 breathing respiration s h hp


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186 meat-eater carnivore ng vt n tht

187 chance opportunity c hi

188 wrong erroneous sai st

189 died out extinct tuyt chng

190 relevant pertinent thch ng, ng ch

191 relatives kindred h hng thn tc

192 copy imitate bt chc

193 break fracture p v

194 mix blend pha trn

195 preference predilection s thin v

196 to come across to find tm thy

197 to do away with to abolish bi b

198 to build up to accumulate tch lu

199 to finish off to conclude kt lun

200 to back up to support/to advocate ng h

201 to put forward propose xut, ngh

202 to put across to express biu l, by t

203 to obey a law to comply with a law tun th php lut

204 poor country developing country nc ngho

205 Thats why/ why For this reason, / the reason for V l do ny

206 new novel mi

207 dependence surbodination s ph thuc

208 quarrel debate/dispute Ci nhau

209 In the same way Similarly, Tng t nh vy

210 to look for to seek Tm kim

211 way manner/solution gii php

212 money currency tin t

213 to imagine to conceive / conceivably tng tng

214 place location ni, v tr


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215 viewpoint stance lp trng, quan im

216 fast/quickly rapidly/ as a matter of urgency nhanh

217 how much to what extent (not applicable to price or amount) ti mc no

218 when (conj) At the time of Khi m

219 In/For many years During a considearble period of years Trong nhiu nm

220 to make smth better /to get better to improve/to upgrade ci thin, lm cho tt hn

221 To put on weight to gain weight Tng cn

223 verb + not + any + noun verb + no + noun khng (ci g)

224 verb + not + many/much + noun verb + few/little + noun khng (ci g)

225 to give to provide a cho, cung cp

226 as you can be seen as can be seen nh ta c th thy

227 wood timber g

228 to describe to depict m t

229 to learn by heart to memorise ghi nh

230 to go on to continue tip tc

231 may be possibly, perhaps c l

232 somehow in a certain way bng cch no

233 job occupation ngh nghip

234 to take on employ thu

235 to give donate, contribute cho, tng

236 dad father b

237 plane aeroplane my bay

238 (not) smoke. to refrain from smoking khng ht thuc

239 to follow these guidelines. to adhere to these guidelines. theo s ch dn

240 gran/granny/nana grandmother b

241 every year/ each year annually hng nm

242 glasses spectacles knh eo mt

243 shop retail outlet ca hiu

244 fridge refrigerator t lnh


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245 TV/ telly television tivi

246 boss employer ng ch

247 change transform chuyn i

248 phone you back return your call gi in li

249 bin man refuse collector ngi thu rc

250 and so on. / and so forth / etc. among other examples. / or avoid using them v.v.

Academic Language

The term academic language commonly refers to the language that is used in formal situations such as

classrooms, college or universities. Moreover, it is the language of textbooks and exams. Academic language is the

language used by teachers and students in order to acquire new knowledge and skills. It differs in structure and

vocabulary from language used in daily social interactions. This means that academic language includes

specialized vocabulary, as well as conventional text structures such as the use of nominal groups, i.e., groups of

words that provide more information about particular concepts. For example, the language of linguistics includes

words like morphology, language acquisition, or language learning.

Features of Academic Language

The uses of specific linguistic features depend on the discipline for which an assignment is written. For

example, an essay in history may contain a number of past tense verbs than a paper that discusses the dialects

spoken by a particular speech community in which the present tense verbs are used. The three features of academic

languag are lexical, grammatical, and discourse.


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IELTS Writing Task 2: Useful Language

Memorising set phrases for use in the IELTS test is a highly effective way of achieving a higher score. Try

learning the following signposting language which will make you sound more confident and sophisticated when

writing an opinion or argument essay in Task 2.

Introducing the topic

Some people argue that Have you ever considered ? The question raises the issue of

Stating an opinion (thesis statement)

I believe that It is my belief that This essay will argue that

Indicating the scope of the essay

In this essay, I will state This essay will examine will be covered in this essay.


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Giving reasons

One reason for this is that This can be explained by This can be attributed to the fact that

Giving further reasons

Not only that, but A further reason is It should also be stated that

Citing general opinions

It has been claimed that It is widely believed that There is a widespread belief that

Refuting opinions

I would dispute this, however.

However, this is not necessarily the case. There are some faults with this reasoning, however.

Hedging strategies

It could be argued that One explanation might be that


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This suggests that

Strengthening an argument

There can be no doubt that Therefore, we can say beyond any doubt that These are just some of the reasons why

Concluding and summarising

To sum up, / In summary, / In short, Overall, / On the whole, To return to my original idea,


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IELTS Writing Task 1: Useful Language

1. THE LANGUAGE OF APPROXIMATION

In report writing it is good style to use approximation. Approximation means describing numbers or

statistics by using a fraction that is similar to the exact number. There are a number of reasons for doing this.

Firstly, it is easier for people to understand and remember. Secondly, the numbers or statistics may be more

detailed than necessary.

Table 02:

Ord numbers/statistics similar fractions Ord numbers/statistics similar fractions

1 65 % about two-thirds of 13 1,043 over a thousand

2 28 % just over a quarter of 14 115 over a hundred

3 21 % about a fifth of 15 9 fewer than ten

4 49 % just under a half of 16 2 a small number

5 74 % almost three quarters of 17 4 a few

6 33.333 % a third of 18 6/7 several

7 92 % most of 19 749,982 about three-quarters of a million

8 98,5 % almost all 20 1,256,890,534 over 1.2 billion

9 19.98 % about a fifth of 21 101,997 about 100,000

10 26 % just over a quarter of 22 248.112 a quarter of a million

11 48.873 % almost a half of 23 1,695,193 about 1.7 million

12 74.25 % nearly three - quarters 24 97 just under a hundred


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2. THE WORDS AND PHRASES TO DESCRIBE TRENDS:

Table 03:

Nouns

a rise

an increase

a surge

a growth

a peak

a fluctuation

a variation

a period of stability

a plateau

a fall

a decrease

a decline

a dip

Verbs

to rise

to increase

to surge

to grow

to peak

to skyrocket

to fluctuate

to vary

to fall

to decrease

to decline


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to dip

to dive

to plunge

Phrases

to show an upward trend

to show a downward trend

to hit the highest point

to hit the lowest point

to reach a peak

to show some fluctuation

to fluctuate wildly

to remain stable

to remain static

to remain unchanged

to stay constant

to reach a plateau

to level off

to flatten out

the highest

the lowest

the second highest

the third highest

compared to

compared with

relative to

Adverbs

sharply

suddenly

rapidly

abruptly

dramatically


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significantly

steadily

considerably

markedly

slightly

gently

gradually

wildly

Adjectives

sharp

sudden

rapid

abrupt

dramatic

steep

significant

steady

considerable

marked

slight

gentle

gradual

writing

Documents

smth hon li

swh smth tr li tr li

smth cng tc

dng li

ascertaindiscover tm

cng lc

statement rt li

considerable ln