Have a go — no notes, and don't worry about getting it perfect first time.
You already shift register without thinking. Complete this sentence with one word:
Text a friend: "Can't make it tonight, sorry!" — Email your boss: "I regret to that I am unable to attend this evening."
Have a go out loud: think of one thing you'd text a friend and say how you'd write the same news in an email to your landlord or your boss. What actually changes — the words, the sentence shape, or both?
Text to a friend: "Hey, our flight got cancelled, we're stuck here till tomorrow, so annoying."
Email to the hotel: "Owing to the cancellation of our flight, an extension of our stay until tomorrow will be required."
Same news, two versions. The email turns two verbs — "cancelled" and "stuck" — into nouns, and drops "we" completely. Why might a writer choose that, do you think? Say your idea out loud before you check.
Formal writing prefers nouns to verbs — it makes the sentence sound like a fact, not a story about people doing things.
Three pairs — the same idea, spoken and written:
Before you check: what happens to the verb (decided, rose, worried/fail) in each formal version?
"Review" stops being an action the council performs and becomes a thing that simply happens — the council can even be left out.
Rewrite each idea as a formal noun phrase. Type the missing noun.
1. Informal: "They're going to expand the factory next year."
Formal report: "An of the factory is planned for next year."
2. Informal: "Staff can't agree on the new rota."
Formal report: "There is a lack of among staff regarding the new rota."
Think of something that changed recently at your work or in your town — a price went up, a service improved, a rule changed. Say it first informally, then turn the verb into a noun and say the formal version.
At this level you don't just know a word — you know its whole family, and you pick the exact member the sentence needs.
The root ANALYSE across four forms:
"The team will analyse the results" → "Her analysis was thorough" → "a highly analytical mind" → "she works as an analyst".
Before you check: what job does each ending (-yse, -ysis, -ytical, -yst) do?
One precise verb replaces "make + adjective" — formal writing prefers the single word.
Choose the correct family member for each gap.
1. The company wants to make its production process modern.
"The board voted to the entire production line."
2. The engineer guessed the cost wrongly, and it came in far too low.
"The final invoice was three times higher because the original cost had been badly ."
3. Choose the right family member. "The report includes a detailed financial ___ of the merger."
Pick a root you use often at work or in study — for example "develop", "produce", or "decide". Say the verb, then say the noun, the adjective, and, if one exists, the person form. Use each in one short sentence.
The same true statement can be dressed for a text message or a formal letter — the facts don't change, only the words and the distance.
Three matched pairs:
What changes each time — just single words, or the sentence shape too?
"You guys never called" (personal, informal) becomes "no response was received" (impersonal, formal) — the fact is identical.
Convert each sentence to the register asked for.
1. Informal: "We can't fix your washing machine till next week."
Write the formal version, starting with "Your washing machine": "Your washing machine until next week."
2. Formal: "Passengers are requested to retain their tickets for the duration of the journey."
Say it the way a guard would tell you on the platform: ""
Think of a genuine complaint you could make — a late delivery, a noisy neighbour, a cancelled booking. Say it once the way you'd tell a friend, then say it again the way you'd write it in a formal email of complaint.
One real situation, both registers, all three skills from today.
Choose something that recently went wrong or changed — a delayed delivery, a cancelled event, a price increase, a building project. (If nothing comes to mind, invent one.)
Tell the story out loud for one minute, first the way you'd tell a friend. Then try to answer:
Write a short formal message (3–5 sentences) about the same situation — to a company, a landlord, or a colleague. Use at least one nominalisation (a verb turned into a noun), at least one word-family choice (a precise noun, adjective or -ise/-ify verb), and at least one impersonal/passive structure. The checker will tell you which it finds.
Real writing doesn't tell you which tool to reach for. Here everything is mixed — you decide.
Each sentence has one word-formation or register mistake. Rewrite the whole sentence correctly.
1. "The committee reached a decide to postpone the launch."
2. "The factory plans to modernise process across all departments."
3. "Sorry mate, we totally messed up your booking, gonna sort it now." (rewrite as a formal apology from a hotel to a guest)
4. "An outside analyst was hired to review the analytical of last year's sales figures."
5. A formal report needs to say that costs went far too high because someone guessed wrongly early on — the estimate itself was the problem, not what happened afterwards. "The budget overrun occurred because the initial costs were badly ___."
6. You are writing the opening line of a formal letter reporting that a delivery van damaged your fence. Which sentence fits a formal letter?
One-minute challenge: you manage a small office. Report out loud, in formal style, one decision that was taken, one process that was modernised or simplified, and one problem that occurred — without saying "I" or naming who did anything. Use the timer above if you like the pressure.
1. A form from earlier study — complete it: "The report written by an external consultant." (passive: someone wrote it, but the writer doesn't matter)
2. Say it out loud: what's the difference between "the decision" and "to decide" in a sentence — which part of speech is each, and which one sounds more formal in a report?
3. The board is reviewing whether to expand into a new market. Report it formally, starting with "A": "A of expansion into a new market is currently under way."
4. The clinic wants to make its booking system simple for patients. Use the precise verb: "The clinic plans to its booking system for patients."
5. Informal: "We forgot to tell you the meeting moved to Friday, sorry about that." Write the formal version, starting with "We apologise": "We apologise — that the meeting had been moved to Friday."
Which practice helped you most today — building word families, converting register, or the writing task? Say why you think that one worked for you.
At the start we said: nominalisation, word families, and register conversion so you can write with the right formality for the situation. Tick what's true: