Formal and Informal English is a free printable Grade 4 English worksheet on choosing the register a situation calls for, aligned to Common Core standard SL.4.6. It prints 8 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two pupils in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

Set 12 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

One paper per pupil

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

Formal and Informal English

SL.4.6

NameDate

Tick the right answer.

1.Which is most likely to be secondhand?

A.A letter written the same week
B.A report written years later from records
C.A photograph taken at the time

2.What makes an account firsthand?

A.It is longer
B.It is written by somebody who was there
C.It is written first

3.You are writing a diary entry. Which suits it?

A.The warning was issued at six.
B.Eleven households had prepared by midnight.
C.I was the one who said it was nothing.

4.Which is most likely to be firsthand?

A.A diary entry written that night
B.A textbook chapter
C.An encyclopaedia article

5.Why does a report avoid "I"?

A.Because it presents the events rather than one person's experience
B.Because "I" is misspelled easily
C.Because reports must be long

6.Which belongs in a formal report?

A.Eleven of fourteen households had prepared.
B.Loads of them had sorted it.
C.Most people, like, moved stuff.

7.Which belongs in dialogue between friends?

A.You're making a fuss.
B.You are exhibiting excessive concern.
C.Your concern is disproportionate.

8.Why choose "expel" rather than "push out" in a science text?

A.It is longer
B.It sounds friendlier
C.It is the precise term readers of that subject expect

LessonPrint · SL.4.6 · Set 12 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Formal and Informal English

Set 12. Prints on its own sheet.

1.A report written years later from records
2.It is written by somebody who was there
3.I was the one who said it was nothing.
4.A diary entry written that night
5.Because it presents the events rather than one person's experience
6.Eleven of fourteen households had prepared.
7.You're making a fuss.
8.It is the precise term readers of that subject expect

More practice for SL.4.6

Tell when to use formal English and when informal is fine.

Teaching this next? Formal and Informal Situations is the 40-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.

All Grade 4 worksheets

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to SL.4.6 of the Common Core State Standards for English language arts.