300 Formal and Informal Words in English with Examples

Formal and informal words help you change your tone for different situations. Formal words are useful in essays, reports, business emails, applications, and professional conversations, while informal words are better for daily speech, friendly messages, chats, and casual writing.

In this guide, you will learn 300 unique formal and informal word pairs with clear examples. The list is arranged into useful groups, including common words, verbs, adjectives, nouns, email phrases, academic vocabulary, business English, speaking words, daily-use phrases, and transition words. This makes it easier to compare each pair and choose the best word for writing, speaking, or communication.

What Are Formal and Informal Words?

Formal words are used in serious, professional, academic, or polite situations. You often use them in essays, reports, business emails, applications, presentations, and official writing.

Informal words are used in daily conversation, friendly messages, social media, chats, and relaxed speech. They are not wrong, but they may not fit serious writing.

For example:

Informal	Formal
I need help.	I require assistance.
Can you check this?	Could you please review this?
We talked about the problem.	We discussed the issue.

Formal vs Informal Words Chart

This quick chart shows common informal words with formal alternatives you can use in writing, emails, and professional situations.

Informal Word	Formal Word
Ask	Request
Help	Assist
Need	Require
Buy	Purchase
Start	Commence
End	Conclude
Tell	Inform
Show	Demonstrate
Use	Utilize
Get	Receive
Give	Provide
Say	State
Answer	Respond
Check	Verify
Fix	Repair
Talk	Communicate
Find	Discover
Keep	Retain
Try	Attempt
Stop	Cease
Make	Create
Let	Permit
Want	Desire
Choose	Select
See	Observe
Ask for	Request
Look for	Search for
Think about	Consider
Talk about	Discuss
Find out	Determine

Common Formal and Informal Words

These common word pairs are useful for daily English, school writing, business communication, and basic vocabulary improvement.

Informal Word	Formal Word
Ask	Request
Help	Assist
Need	Require
Buy	Purchase
Start	Commence
End	Conclude
Tell	Inform
Show	Demonstrate
Use	Utilize
Get	Receive
Give	Provide
Say	State
Answer	Respond
Check	Verify
Fix	Repair
Talk	Communicate
Find	Discover
Keep	Retain
Try	Attempt
Stop	Cease
Make	Create
Let	Permit
Want	Desire
Choose	Select
See	Observe
Ask for	Request
Look for	Search for
Think about	Consider
Talk about	Discuss
Find out	Determine

Formal and Informal Verbs

Verbs can quickly change the tone of a sentence, so formal verb choices make writing sound more polished and professional.

Informal Verb	Formal Verb
Go	Depart
Come	Arrive
Put off	Postpone
Call off	Cancel
Deal with	Handle
Throw away	Discard
Give up	Quit
Bring up	Mention
Set up	Establish
Go on	Continue
Look into	Investigate
Fill in	Complete
Pick up	Collect
Put in	Insert
Take out	Remove
Go after	Pursue
Carry out	Conduct
Work out	Resolve
Look over	Review
Point out	Indicate
Put together	Assemble
Go down	Decrease
Go up	Increase
Make sure	Ensure
Take part	Participate
Put up with	Tolerate
Turn down	Reject
Go through	Experience
Bring about	Cause
Look after	Supervise

Formal and Informal Adjectives

Adjectives describe people, things, and situations, so choosing formal alternatives can make descriptions clearer and more suitable for serious writing.

Informal Adjective	Formal Adjective
Big	Large
Small	Minor
Good	Beneficial
Bad	Harmful
Smart	Intelligent
Rich	Wealthy
Cheap	Inexpensive
Tired	Exhausted
Lucky	Fortunate
Friendly	Amiable
Easy	Simple
Hard	Difficult
Wrong	Incorrect
Right	Correct
Old	Elderly
Young	Youthful
Fast	Rapid
Slow	Gradual
Happy	Pleased
Sad	Unhappy
Angry	Irritated
Brave	Courageous
Funny	Humorous
Clear	Evident
Sure	Certain
Nice	Pleasant
Poor	Underprivileged
Famous	Well-known
Busy	Occupied
Free	Available

Formal and Informal Nouns

Some everyday nouns have more formal alternatives that fit better in reports, essays, emails, and professional English.

Informal Noun	Formal Noun
Kid	Child
Dad	Father
Mom	Mother
Boss	Manager
Worker	Employee
Job	Position
Home	Residence
House	Property
Car	Vehicle
Food	Meal
Clothes	Clothing
Doctor	Physician
Problem	Issue
Chance	Opportunity
Idea	Concept
Plan	Strategy
Goal	Objective
Help	Assistance
Trip	Journey
Place	Location
Thing	Item
Stuff	Materials
Talk	Discussion
Fight	Conflict
Gift	Present
Rule	Regulation
Choice	Option
Result	Outcome
Reason	Factor
Use	Purpose

Formal and Informal Email Words

Email writing often needs polite and clear language, especially when you are writing to teachers, clients, managers, or officials.

Informal Word or Phrase	Formal Word or Phrase
Hi	Dear
Thanks	Thank you
Sorry	I apologize
Can you	Could you please
I want	I would like
Let me know	Please inform me
Talk soon	I look forward to hearing from you
Need help	Require assistance
Send me	Please send me
About	Regarding
Tell me	Inform me
Get back to me	Respond to me
Okay	Acceptable
No problem	Certainly
Thanks a lot	Thank you very much
See attached	Please find attached
I got your email	I received your email
Just checking	I am following up
Is it okay?	Would this be acceptable?
I need	I require
I think	I believe
I’m writing about	I am writing regarding
Please reply	Please respond
Give me details	Provide details
Sorry for being late	I apologize for the delay
I can’t come	I am unable to attend
Tell us	Notify us
Talk later	Discuss later
Write back	Reply
See you	I look forward to meeting you

Formal and Informal Academic Words

Academic writing uses formal vocabulary to explain ideas, evidence, arguments, results, and research in a clear and serious tone.

Informal Word or Phrase	Formal Word or Phrase
Prove	Establish
Guess	Estimate
Look at	Analyze
Talk about	Discuss
Check	Examine
Good	Beneficial
Bad	Detrimental
Big	Significant
Small	Minor
Main	Primary
Last	Final
First	Initial
Clear	Apparent
True	Accurate
Wrong	Incorrect
Help	Contribute to
Cause	Lead to
Make	Produce
Change	Modify
Need	Necessitate
Try	Attempt
Study	Research
Result	Outcome
Idea	Concept
Reason	Factor
Point	Argument
Part	Component
Example	Illustration
Proof	Evidence
Topic	Subject

Formal and Informal Business Words

Business English often uses professional words for work, meetings, money, clients, reports, plans, and company communication.

Informal Word or Phrase	Formal Word or Phrase
Money	Funds
Sell	Market
Pay	Compensate
Deal	Agreement
Problem	Issue
Chance	Opportunity
Work together	Collaborate
Start a business	Establish a business
Make money	Generate revenue
Cut costs	Reduce expenses
Make better	Improve
Look into	Investigate
Give details	Provide information
Finish work	Complete the task
Keep records	Maintain records
Get results	Achieve results
New idea	Proposal
Business talk	Negotiation
Important client	Key client
Company rules	Company policy
Work report	Performance report
Team work	Collaboration
Work plan	Action plan
Sales number	Sales figure
Customer help	Customer support
Company money	Company funds
Business growth	Business expansion
Work problem	Operational issue
New product	Product launch
Job offer	Employment offer

Formal and Informal Speaking Words

Spoken English can be casual, but knowing formal alternatives helps you adjust your tone for interviews, meetings, and presentations.

Informal Word or Phrase	Formal Word or Phrase
Yeah	Yes
Nope	No
Wanna	Want to
Gonna	Going to
Gotta	Have to
Kinda	Somewhat
Sorta	Somewhat
Dunno	Do not know
Lemme	Let me
Gotcha	I understand
Hang on	Please wait
What’s up?	How are you?
No worries	That is acceptable
My bad	My mistake
Cool	Acceptable
Awesome	Excellent
Super	Very
Really	Highly
Pretty good	Satisfactory
A bit	Slightly
A bunch of	Several
Loads of	Many
Stuff	Items
Thing	Matter
Chat	Conversation
Help out	Assist
Come over	Visit
Drop by	Visit briefly
Hang out	Spend time together
Chill	Relax

Formal and Informal Phrases

Many everyday phrases have formal versions that sound better in essays, reports, official letters, and professional communication.

Informal Phrase	Formal Phrase
A lot of	Numerous
In the end	Finally
Right away	Immediately
Again and again	Repeatedly
For sure	Certainly
In fact	Indeed
To start with	To begin with
As soon as possible	At your earliest convenience
By the way	Incidentally
In my opinion	From my perspective
All in all	Overall
To sum up	To conclude
More and more	Increasingly
Step by step	Gradually
These days	Currently
Now	At present
Before	Previously
After that	Subsequently
In the meantime	Meanwhile
Lots of	Many
At once	Promptly
In short	In summary
On time	Punctually
Once in a while	Occasionally
Every now and then	Periodically
A little bit	Slightly
All the time	Constantly
No longer	Not anymore
In a hurry	Urgently
Out of date	Obsolete

Formal and Informal Transition Words

Transition words connect ideas, so formal alternatives help essays, emails, and reports sound smoother, clearer, and more organized.

Informal Transition	Formal Transition
So	Therefore
But	However
Also	Additionally
And	Furthermore
Plus	Moreover
Because	Since
Because of	Due to
Maybe	Perhaps
Anyway	Nevertheless
Still	Nonetheless
Then	Subsequently
First	Firstly
Next	Secondly
Last	Finally
In the end	Ultimately
To finish	To conclude
For example	For instance
Like	Such as
In short	In brief
All in all	Overall
Even so	Nevertheless
On top of that	In addition
That’s why	For this reason
As a result	Consequently
At the same time	Simultaneously
In fact	Indeed
Before	Previously
After	Following
Now	Currently
Soon	Shortly

Formal and Informal Writing Words

Writing often needs precise vocabulary, especially when explaining, comparing, summarizing, supporting, or presenting ideas in a formal way.

Informal Word or Phrase	Formal Word or Phrase
Write down	Record
Talk about	Address
Show clearly	Illustrate
Make clear	Clarify
Point out	Highlight
Sum up	Summarize
Go into detail	Elaborate
Leave out	Omit
Put simply	In simple terms
Make a list	Enumerate
Back up	Support
Go against	Contradict
Look the same	Resemble
Be about	Concern
Add to	Supplement
Cut down	Reduce
Make bigger	Expand
Make smaller	Minimize
Put forward	Present
Write again	Revise
Check again	Reassess
Give an example	Exemplify
Talk briefly	Mention briefly
Make a point	Assert
Give reasons	Justify
Look carefully	Inspect
Think again	Reconsider
Explain more	Elaborate further
Make easier	Simplify
Make stronger	Strengthen

Formal and Informal Daily Use Words

Daily English includes many casual words, but formal alternatives are useful when speaking or writing in serious situations.

Informal Word or Phrase	Formal Word or Phrase
Sick	Ill
Jobless	Unemployed
Poor people	Disadvantaged people
Old people	Elderly people
Bad behavior	Misconduct
Get better	Recover
Get worse	Deteriorate
Go away	Leave
Come back	Return
Be late	Arrive late
Be on time	Arrive punctually
Need food	Require food
Need money	Require funds
Help people	Support people
Use time	Spend time
Eat food	Consume food
Drink water	Consume water
Make food	Prepare food
Clean up	Organize
Look good	Appear attractive
Feel bad	Feel unwell
Feel better	Improve
Go home	Return home
Stay home	Remain at home
Get ready	Prepare
Go outside	Go outdoors
Come inside	Enter
Say sorry	Apologize
Say yes	Agree
Say no	Refuse

Formal and Informal Sentence Examples

Sentence examples show how formal and informal words work in real communication, not just as separate vocabulary pairs.

Informal Sentence	Formal Sentence
I need your help.	I require your assistance.
Can you check this report?	Could you please review this report?
We talked about the issue.	We discussed the issue.
I got your email.	I received your email.
The meeting was called off.	The meeting was canceled.
Please send me the file.	Kindly provide the file.
I’m sorry for being late.	I apologize for the delay.
We need to fix the problem.	We need to resolve the issue.
Tell me what happened.	Please inform me what occurred.
I want more details.	I would like further details.
He gave up too quickly.	He quit too quickly.
We found out the reason.	We determined the reason.
They put off the event.	They postponed the event.
She looked over the document.	She reviewed the document.
The price went up.	The price increased.

When to Use Formal Words

Use formal words in school essays, reports, business emails, applications, official letters, presentations, interviews, and professional communication. Formal language makes your writing sound more respectful and suitable for serious situations.

For example, “I require assistance” sounds more formal than “I need help.” However, formal writing should still sound clear and natural. Therefore, avoid using difficult words only to sound smarter.

When to Use Informal Words

Use informal words with friends, family, casual chats, social media posts, text messages, and everyday speaking. Informal language often sounds warmer, faster, and more natural in relaxed situations.

For example, “Thanks for your help” is fine in a friendly message. Meanwhile, “Thank you for your assistance” is better in a professional email.

Common Mistakes with Formal and Informal Words

One common mistake is thinking formal words are always better. They are not. Formal and informal words are both correct, but they belong in different situations.

Another mistake is using casual words in serious writing. For example, avoid wanna, gonna, stuff, lots of, kind of, and a bunch of in essays or professional emails. Instead, use want to, going to, materials, many, somewhat, and several when a formal tone is needed.

Also, do not replace every simple word with a difficult formal word. Clear English is always better than unnatural English.

FAQs

Summary

Formal and informal words help you match your English to the right situation. Formal words are useful for essays, business emails, reports, applications, and professional communication. Informal words are better for daily conversation, chats, friendly messages, and social media. Learning these 300 formal and informal word pairs can improve your writing, speaking, emails, and overall English vocabulary.

Read More

• Basic vs Advanced English Words
• 1000 Daily Use English Words
• Rhyming Words in English
• 100+ Examples of Homophones
• Normal vs Advanced English Words