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 14 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.What makes an account firsthand?

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

2.Which is most likely to be firsthand?

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

3.When should you choose the shorter word?

A.Only in speech
B.When it says the same thing as clearly
C.Never

4.Which belongs in a formal report?

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

5.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

6.Which is most likely to be secondhand?

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

7.What does a colon usually signal?

A.That an explanation or a list follows
B.The end of a paragraph
C.A change of speaker

8.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.

LessonPrint · SL.4.6 · Set 14 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Formal and Informal English

Set 14. Prints on its own sheet.

1.It is written by somebody who was there
2.A diary entry written that night
3.When it says the same thing as clearly
4.Eleven of fourteen households had prepared.
5.It is the precise term readers of that subject expect
6.A report written years later from records
7.That an explanation or a list follows
8.I was the one who said it was nothing.

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.