Essay Terminology: Colloquial vs. Formal Language

You have begun writing your essay, but when you read it aloud to your friend they laugh at you and say it sounds like a street thug talking. You have read it over and everything looks like correct English. What is your problem?

An essay writer knows the differences between registers, which are styles of speech used for different contexts. Consider the following phrases of the same idea in different registers:

1. “loads of apples”
2. “a lot of apples”
3. “many apples”
4. “large quantities of apples”

The first two are unacceptable in an essay, while the third is acceptable, but not ideal. The last one is the most appropriate register of the idea for an essay. It presents the most formal language of the four options. The first two are commonly used in spoken English, but not within formal writing.

Another set of examples:

1. “banged into the wall”
2. “slammed into the wall”
3. “crashed into the wall”
4. “collided with the wall”

These four registers of an idea present an identical makeup to the first set of examples. While the first two are inappropriately colloquial, the third is acceptable and the final, ideal.

Perhaps you can see that the more precise the word, the more likely it is to be formal. The exceptions to this are artistic phrasing, such as “hurled into the wall”. While it sounds nice, it is too emotive for an essay. A good essay writer will perceive this while writing the essay and avoid both the colloquial and artistic phrasings.