00:00I've heard that more and more people are consuming fast food. Additionally, they are becoming more obese.
00:08Yeah, me too. I've heard that many people are eating fast food and they are getting fat.
00:16True. Folks like it greasy. They just dig in all the fast food.
00:21What do you think?
00:23Hello, my name is Matty from POC English and in this lesson I'm going to teach you some formal English vocabulary using three stories.
00:39Let's start with story number one.
00:42Jack's father is rich. He doesn't let Jack go out with his poor friend Jessie.
00:51Jessie is a funny person and he is very kind.
00:57Jack's father thinks this is not okay so Jack has to say sorry each time he goes out with Jessie.
01:09Poor Jack. This story was informal and I want to show you how to make it more formal by using some formal vocabulary.
01:19So, the first word is rich. When someone has a lot of money, we say he or she is rich, right?
01:28Instead of rich, you can use the more formal word affluent.
01:33Affluent. He is a rich man. He is an affluent man or rich people live here. Affluent people live here.
01:45The second word is let. My father doesn't let me go out.
01:50Let is informal and the more formal version is allow. My father doesn't allow me to go.
02:00A very important grammar note. After let, we use bare infinitive or infinitive without to.
02:10My father doesn't let me go. There is no to.
02:15However, after allow, we use infinitive with to.
02:20My father doesn't allow me to go. Let me go. Allow me to go.
02:28Jessie is funny. Well, instead of funny, which is an informal adjective, I can say amusing.
02:37Amusing. Jessie is amusing or this TV show is amusing or it was an amusing movie.
02:44And is a very useful word. Well, instead of and, you can say additionally in the beginning of a sentence.
02:54This is very important. So, if you want to replace and with additionally, you have to cut the sentence in two parts,
03:02finish the sentence with a full stop and then start the second sentence with additionally plus comma.
03:10For example, instead of Jack is funny and he is very kind, I can say Jack is funny, full stop.
03:19Additionally, comma, he is very kind. This is more formal.
03:26If we want to say that something is fine and there is no problem with doing something, you can use the word OK.
03:33Like, it's OK to have fast food every once in a while, but OK is an informal word.
03:40Instead of OK, you can say acceptable. Acceptable. It's acceptable to have fast food every once in a while.
03:50When we do something wrong, we have to say sorry, right? If I broke my friend's pencil, I have to say sorry.
03:58If I had an accident with my dad's car, I have to say sorry, if I stay alive.
04:04Instead of say sorry, I can use a more formal word, apologize.
04:10Apologize is a verb and it's very formal. It means to say sorry. I have to apologize.
04:17Now, let's try to use these new formal words in order to rewrite the story.
04:24Jack's father is affluent. He doesn't allow Jack to go out with his poor friend, Jesse.
04:35Jesse is an amusing person. Additionally, he is very kind.
04:42Jack's father thinks this is not acceptable, so Jack has to apologize each time he goes out with Jesse.
04:52And that is a more formal version of this story. Let's go to story number two.
04:58My co-worker is working on a project. It is a very hard project, so he is very worried.
05:07He has to finish it by Friday. He has asked me to help him. I suggested that we talk to our boss about the project.
05:17And that was the second informal story. Let's try to make it formal together.
05:22A person you work with is your co-worker, but instead of co-worker, you can use the more formal equivalent, colleague.
05:32He is my co-worker. He is my colleague. I love my co-worker. I love my colleague.
05:38Instead of the adjective hard, you can say difficult, but you can use a more formal word, which is even nicer to say.
05:46You can say complex. Something is hard. Something is complex.
05:51Math is hard. Math is complex. This project is hard. This project is complex.
05:59Instead of saying he is worried or she is worried, well, you can make it more formal and say concerned.
06:07He is concerned or she is concerned about something.
06:11Instead of the verb finish, you can simply say complete.
06:15Let me make something clear. It is not wrong to say finish. That's completely fine.
06:20But if you want to add variety, you can say complete instead of finish.
06:26Help can be a noun and a verb. I really need your help. Help here is a noun.
06:33Can you please help me? Help here is a verb.
06:37Instead of the verb help, I can say assist, which is more formal, right?
06:43Could you assist me?
06:45Instead of the noun help, I can say assistance.
06:49I appreciate your assistance.
06:52One word we use a lot is about. I want to talk to you about something.
06:59I read an article about something. There was a documentary about animals.
07:05Instead of about, I can use more formal equivalents like regarding or concerning.
07:12I saw a documentary concerning wildlife. I read an article regarding the economy.
07:19Now, let's try to use these new formal words in order to rewrite the story.
07:25My colleague is working on a project.
07:30It is a very complex project, so he is very concerned.
07:37He has to complete it by Friday.
07:41He has asked me to assist him.
07:46I suggested that we talk to our boss concerning the project.
07:52And that was the second story.
07:55It is time for the third story, but before that, let me tell you something.
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08:25And now, time for the third and the last story.
08:29Americans eat a lot of fast food.
08:32Fast food restaurants are often cheaper than normal restaurants.
08:37It is more expensive to have a meal at an elegant restaurant.
08:43Research shows that the number of healthy people is going down, and fat people are going up.
08:52This is something politicians should talk about.
08:56Now, this text was semi-formal, which means not completely informal, but not entirely formal.
09:04And now, we're going to try to make it more formal.
09:08If I am hungry, I eat.
09:11Instead of eat, I can use a very formal verb.
09:15Consume. Consume.
09:17But, well, you cannot use it when you're talking to your friend.
09:20Hey, why don't you consume that pizza?
09:23No. Consume is a very formal word, which is usually used in research or, you know,
09:29when the news is giving information to the public.
09:32Or maybe you're reading the newspaper and you see,
09:35hmm, Americans are consuming more and more fast food.
09:40Instead of cheap, you can use an adjective.
09:43Economical. Economical.
09:46Now, pay attention. A very common mistake is saying economic.
09:50Well, economic is an adjective, which means anything related to the economy of a country.
09:56The economic situation of the country is not good.
09:59The economic climate of our country is not very good.
10:03But, economical means cheap.
10:07And instead of saying cheaper, you can say more economical.
10:11On the other hand, what can you say instead of expensive?
10:14Well, there is nothing wrong with expensive.
10:17And expensive is not really informal.
10:20But to add more variety, you can say costly.
10:24If I have something, I can show it to you.
10:27If the research finds something, it shows us, right?
10:31Instead of the word show, you can use a more formal one.
10:35Now, demonstrate. Demonstrate.
10:38This is very useful for those of you who are aiming at taking the IELTS exam.
10:43Demonstrate. You can say the pie chart demonstrates or the bar chart demonstrates.
10:49Instead of go down, you can say decrease.
10:53And instead of go up, you can say increase.
10:57Politicians should talk about it.
11:00Well, talk about something is informal.
11:04What else can I say instead of talk about?
11:07I can use the verb discuss.
11:09Scientists should discuss it. Politicians should discuss it.
11:13And now, let's rewrite the story in a more formal way.
11:17Americans consume a lot of fast food.
11:21Fast food restaurants are often more economical than normal restaurants.
11:29It is costlier to have a meal at an elegant restaurant.
11:34Research demonstrates that the number of healthy people is decreasing and fat people are increasing.
11:44This is something politicians should discuss.
11:48You could even make it more formal by using obese instead of fat.
11:52Talking about obesity. But anyway.
11:55And that's it, guys. I hope you've enjoyed this lesson.
11:58Let me know what you think in the comments below.
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