Informal to formal
There are many words and phrases often used by students that, although used in conversational or informal English, are not considered formal English required for successful academic writing.
Table 1. List of informal English converted to formal academic English.
| Informal, ‘Wordy’ English | Formal Academic English |
| a lot | many, considerable number, numerous |
| came back | returned |
| came up with | produced, provided |
| come up with | develop |
| carried out (a study) | conducted, performed |
| chance | likelihood |
| deal with | manage, respond to |
| did, done | conducted, performed |
| extra | additional |
| get | obtain, receive |
| get rid of | eliminate, removed |
| go down, get smaller | decrease, reduce |
| go into, talk about | discuss |
| go up, get bigger | increase |
| (a) great deal of | considerable |
| hard | difficult |
| help | assistance |
| in accordance with | consistent with |
| enough of | sufficient |
| fact | evidence |
| filled out | completed |
| find out | determine ascertain, discover, learn |
| (it is) fitting | (it is) appropriate |
| looked into | investigated |
| made up of | consisted of, comprised |
| make up, | constitute, comprise |
| make it easier | facilitate |
| make sure | ensure, verify |
| not been much | few, little |
| pointed out, watched, | indicated, observed |
| pretty good | encouraging |
| prove | support |
| put forward (an idea, view, theory) | present, propose |
| right | correct, accurate |
| said | reported, indicated, stated |
| set out to do something, try to do | aim |
| set up | established |
| sort of | quite |
| tell apart/between, make a distinction | distinguish, differentiate, discern |
| went back over, looked over, | reviewed |
| went through | checked |
| worked on | conducted |
| worked out, figured out | determined |
| wrong | incorrect, inaccurate |
| whole lot of | various |