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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 2 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 diary entry written that night
  • C.A textbook chapter
2.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
3.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
4.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.
5.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
6.What makes an account firsthand?
  • A.It is written by somebody who was there
  • B.It is written first
  • C.It is longer
7.What does a colon usually signal?
  • A.A change of speaker
  • B.The end of a paragraph
  • C.That an explanation or a list follows
8.When should you choose the shorter word?
  • A.Only in speech
  • B.When it says the same thing as clearly
  • C.Never

LessonPrint · SL.4.6 · Set 2 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Formal and Informal English

Set 2. Prints on its own sheet.

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

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.