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

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

2.Why does a report avoid "I"?

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

3.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

4.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

5.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

6.When should you choose the shorter word?

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

7.Which belongs in a formal report?

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

8.What makes an account firsthand?

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

LessonPrint · SL.4.6 · Set 7 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Formal and Informal English

Set 7. Prints on its own sheet.

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

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.