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

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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 firsthand?
  • A.An encyclopaedia article
  • B.A textbook chapter
  • C.A diary entry written that night
2.What does a colon usually signal?
  • A.A change of speaker
  • B.That an explanation or a list follows
  • C.The end of a paragraph
3.Why choose "expel" rather than "push out" in a science text?
  • A.It is longer
  • B.It is the precise term readers of that subject expect
  • C.It sounds friendlier
4.When should you choose the shorter word?
  • A.Only in speech
  • B.Never
  • C.When it says the same thing as clearly
5.What makes an account firsthand?
  • A.It is longer
  • B.It is written by somebody who was there
  • C.It is written first
6.You are writing a diary entry. Which suits it?
  • A.I was the one who said it was nothing.
  • B.Eleven households had prepared by midnight.
  • C.The warning was issued at six.
7.Why does a report avoid "I"?
  • A.Because reports must be long
  • B.Because "I" is misspelled easily
  • C.Because it presents the events rather than one person's experience
8.Which is most likely to be secondhand?
  • A.A letter written the same week
  • B.A photograph taken at the time
  • C.A report written years later from records

LessonPrint · SL.4.6 · Set 13 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Formal and Informal English

Set 13. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.A diary entry written that night
  2. 2.That an explanation or a list follows
  3. 3.It is the precise term readers of that subject expect
  4. 4.When it says the same thing as clearly
  5. 5.It is written by somebody who was there
  6. 6.I was the one who said it was nothing.
  7. 7.Because it presents the events rather than one person's experience
  8. 8.A report written years later from records

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.