LEXIS FOR THE IELTS:
FORMAL AND INFORMAL LANGUAGE IN CONTRAST
Bí quyết luyện thi IELTS WRITING Band 8.0+ – Task 01: Tại đây
Bí quyết luyện thi IELTS WRITING Band 8.0+ – Task 02: Tại đây
| FORMAL
(Trang trọng) |
NEUTRAL/ LESS FORMAL/ INFORMAL
(Trung lập/ Ít hoặc không trang trọng) |
MEANING | EXAMPLE |
| Accord | Agreement
|
Phù hợp, đồng ý | An accord => agreement between two countries |
| Acquire | Obtain/ get (less formal) | Thu được, đạt được | Acquire / get reputation / obtain qualification |
| Address (v) | Give attention to | Chú tâm vào/ xử lý | Address / give attention to a topic / an issue |
| Address (v) | Speak to/ speak/talk about | Phát biểu/Nói chuyện với | Address / speak to the meeting/ crowd |
| Adjudicate | Judge | Phân xử/Xét xử | Adjudicate/ judge a contest/ dispute |
| Administer | Give | Phân phát/ Quản lý, trông nom | Administer/ give a drug/ medicine to a patient |
| Advantages and disadvantages | Pros and cons (informal) | Ưu điểm và nhược điểm | Offer advantages and disadvantages/ pros and cons |
| Advocate (v) | Support, encourage | Tán thành, ủng hộ | We do not advocate/ support/ encourage the use of questionnaires with young children |
| Aim | Set out ( to do s.t) | Nhằm/ tập trung vào | In this paper, we aim/ set out to challenge some current assumptions. |
| Albeit | Although | Mặc dù | The chairman accepted the job, albeit/ although there was some hesitation. |
| Appeal for / appeal to s.b for s.t | Ask for | Yêu cầu | The police are appealing/ asking for any information the public can offer. |
| Attempt | Try/ have a shot at (informal) | Nỗ lực, cố gắng/ thử | Attempt / try a hard task |
| Attire | Clothes | Trang phục | She always wore rather old-fashioned attire/clothes. |
| Be accepted / be offered a place | Get in (informal) | Được chấp nhận / nhận vào | I hope to get in / be accepted / be offered a place to study engineering. |
| Call on / upon | Ask (somebody to do something) | Nhờ (ai làm gì) | Call on/upon / ask expertise |
| Catalogue (n) | List | Danh mục | Publish a catalogue / list |
| Characteristic (Adj) | Typical | Đặc trưng | Characteristic / typical trail |
| Compose | Write | Soạn, biên soạn | Compose / write a poem/ letter/ symphony |
| Conduct | Carry out, do (less formal) | Tiến hành | Conduct an experiment / research / a study |
| Conduct (n) | Behavior | Đạo đức, cách cư xử | Such conduct/behavior is unacceptable. |
| Consist of | Be made up of | Bao gồm | Consist of / be made up of wood and metal |
| Constitute | Make up | Cấu tạo, tạo thành | Constitute /make up an achievement |
| Consult (v) | Read, look at | Tra cứu | Consult / Read, look at a document/archive |
| Contest (v) | Argue against, disagree with | Tranh luận | Contest/argue against/disagree with a judgment. |
| Convention | Agreement | Hiệp định, thỏa thuận | No written convention/agreement existed until 1984. |
| Cordial | Friendly | Thân mật | Cordial/friendly relations between governments |
| Correct | Right | Chính xác | It took hours of calculations to arrive at the correct/ right answer. |
| Deliver | Give | Phát biểu/ Cung cấp | Deliver/give a talk/lecture |
| Demonstrate | Show | Chứng minh | Demonstrate /show competence to do s.t |
| Describe | Set out | Mô tả | Describe / set out a strategic plan |
| Diminish | Decrease, grow smaller | Giảm thiểu, thu nhỏ | The population has diminished/decreased / grown smaller. |
| Discuss | Go into | Thảo luận | Discuss / go into a question |
| Dispose of | Get rid of | Vứt bỏ | Dispose of / get rid of nuclear waste |
| Document (v) | Record/ write about | Ghi lại tài liệu | Document /Record/ write about the occurrence |
| Dormitory | Dorm | Ký túc xá | BrE = hall of residence |
| Dwelling | House, flat, apartment | Nơi cư ngụ | There were originally 50 dwellings/houses/flats/ apartments on the site. |
| Endure | Last | Tồn tại,kéo dài /chịu đựng | The dynasty endured/lasted/ for eight centuries. |
| Examination | Exam (slight informal) | Kỳ thi , khảo sát | An entrance examination |
| Examine | Take/have a look at (informal) | Kiểm tra | examine/take/have a look at your essay before submitting it |
| Exceed | Be more, higher, greater than | Vượt quá | The cost of the project is reported to exceed / be more than 20 milion dollars |
| Exchange | Swap (informal) | Đổi | The tube was exchanged/swapped for one of a larger caliber. |
| Final | Last | Sau cùng | The final/ last warning |
| Hierarchy | Pecking order | Tôn ty trật tự, thứ bậc | hierarchy/pecking order in an institution |
| Highlight | Point up | Nhấn mạnh,làm nổi bật | The study highlight/ point up the problems of inner-city area. |
| Improper | Wrong | Không phù hợp/sai | Improper/wrong procedure |
| In excess of | Over, higher than | Vượt quá | The book sold in excess of/ over 20.000 copies. |
| In greater detail | In more detail | Chi tiết hơn | The problems should be discuss in greater / more detail. |
| In respect of, with respect to | With regard to, as far as X is concerned, as far as X goes (informal) | Đối với | In respect of/ with respect to/with regard to civil rights/ as far as civil rights is concerned/ as far as civil rights goes, all citizens are equal under the law. |
| In sum, in summary | In short, to sum up, summing up | Tóm lại, tóm tắt | |
| Inappropriate | Unsuitable | Không thích hợp | Inappropriate/ unsuitable form of words |
| Incorrect | Wrong | Không chính xác | The totals in column 3 are incorrect/wrong. |
| Incur | Result in, experience | Gánh, chịu | To incur/ result in a huge burden of increasing the expenses for social welfare |
| Instigate | Initiate, start something | Xúi giục/ khởi xướng | Instigate/ initiate/ start a quarrel |
| Instruct | Direct, order | Hướng dẫn | Instruct/direct/order somebody to carry out a task |
| Investigate | Look into (slightly informal) | Điều tra | Investigate / look into a problem |
| Laboratory | Lab | Phòng thí nghiệm | |
| Maintain | Keep | Duy trì | Maintain one’s fitness/ keep fit |
| Make reference to | Refer to | Tham khảo | Make reference/ refer to books and materials |
| Negotiations | Talks | Đàm phán | Negotiations/ talks between governments |
| Nevertheless | Having said that | Tuy nhiên | Their work has been fairly good. Nevertheless/ Having said that, I still think there’s room for improvement |
| Occasion | Time | Cơ hội,dịp | It happened three times/ on three occasions |
| Occupation | Job, profession | Nghề nghiệp | What is your occupation/ profession/ job? |
| Omit, not attend something | Skip (informal) | Bỏ qua, không tham dự một cái gì đó | Do not attend/ Skip a lecture, omit/ skip a chapter |
| Pledge | Promise | Hứa, cam kết | Pledge/ Promise a donation to |
| Pose | Ask | Đặt ra, đưa ra | Pose/ ask a question |
| Postgraduate | Postgrad (informal) | Nghiên cứu sinh | |
| Present | Put forward | Trình bày/ đưa ra | Present/ put forward an idea/ view/ theory, etc |
| Primary | Main | Chủ yếu | Primary/ main cause |
| Recapitulate | Recap | Tổng hợp lại, tóm lại | To recapitulate/ recap |
| Recently | Lately | Gần đây | These animals have not been seen recently/ lately. |
| Representative | Rep (informal) | Đại diện | She’s the student representative/ rep on the Departmental Committee. |
| Resign | Quit (informal) | Từ chức | The President resigned/ quit in 1986. |
| Resolve | Solve, end | Giải quyết | Resolve/ solve a problem, resolve/ end a conflict |
| Rest on | Be based on | Dựa trên | The theory rests on/ is based on the asumption that… |
| Return | Come back, go back, get back | Quay trở lại | Return/ come back home |
| Revise | Look back over, go over | Xem lại, duyệt lại | Revise/ look back over the task |
| Sanction (v) | Permit | Chấp nhận, tán thành | The government cannot sanction law breaking. |
| Secure (v) | Obtain, get , gain (informal) | Đạt được, có được | Secure/ get/ gain one’s ends
|
| Sole(ly) | Only | Duy nhất | The sole/ only representative for … |
| Somewhat | Slightly, a little, a bit (informal) | Phần nào, một chút | It is somewhat/ a little dificult. |
| Speak of | Talk of, talk about (less formal) | Nói về | We will speak of/ talk about that point later |
| Spouse | Husband, wife | Vợ hoặc chồng | The President’s spouse/ husband/ wife attended the ceremony. |
| Substantial | Large, big | Đáng kể | A substantial number/ amount |
| Treat | Deal with | Xem xét/ xử lý | This issue was not treated/ dealt with fully in his earlier work. |
| Undergraduate | Undergrad (informal) | Sinh viên chưa tốt nghiệp | The undergrads/undergraduates mostly live in halls of residence. |
| Undertaking (n) | Promise | Sự cam kết, đảm nhận | An official undertaking/ promise to do something |
| Utilize | Use something effectively | Tận dụng | Utilize a resource/ method |
| Virtually | Almost, more or less | Hầu như | It is virtually/ almost impossible to … |
| Write of | Write about | Viết về.. | |
| It is not possible / not correct that… | There’s no way that … (less formal) | Không thể nào mà … | It is not possible/ there’s absolutely no way that one can retrieve his fortunes in such a short time. |
| Your faithfully | Yours sincerely, best wishes (less formal), best (informal) | Chân thành | (Way of ending a letter or email) |
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