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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 15 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.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
2.Which is most likely to be firsthand?
  • A.A diary entry written that night
  • B.A textbook chapter
  • C.An encyclopaedia article
3.Why choose "expel" rather than "push out" in a science text?
  • A.It sounds friendlier
  • B.It is longer
  • C.It is the precise term readers of that subject expect
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.When should you choose the shorter word?
  • A.Only in speech
  • B.Never
  • C.When it says the same thing as clearly
6.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.
7.Which is most likely to be secondhand?
  • A.A report written years later from records
  • B.A photograph taken at the time
  • C.A letter written the same week
8.What does a colon usually signal?
  • A.The end of a paragraph
  • B.That an explanation or a list follows
  • C.A change of speaker

LessonPrint · SL.4.6 · Set 15 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Formal and Informal English

Set 15. Prints on its own sheet.

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

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.