Writing

When writing formally (an academic paper, a scientific paper, a business letter), there are certain rules that the writer should follow. Note that these are guidelines and some writers will break these rules.

When writing your paper, try to…

Avoid contractions (don’t, can’t, I’m, haven’t)

write out the full contraction
Example: I cannot speak Russian. He does not know who wants it.

Avoid slang (ain’t, gotta, I got a headache)

do not use informal slang; use the formal word
Example: I got have a headache. I gotta have to go to school

Avoid idioms (break the ice, on shaky ground, piece of cake)

do not use idioms; use the exact word
Example: This is a piece of cake = This is easy.

Avoid phrasal verbs (verb + prepositions – put off = postpone, go back = return,

instead of using a phrasal verb, use one word verbs
Example: My parents brought me up = My parents raised
Example: I need to cut down on sugar = I need to reduce

Avoid starting a sentence with conjunctions

an easy way to remember this rule is avoid ‘FANBOYS’ (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so)

For	For I am a high school student, therefore I cannot drink alcohol. *This is an uncommon one, this ‘for’ acts like ‘because’*
And	And I don’t like beer.
Nor	Nor do I like soju.
But	But I can work hard when I have time.
Or	Or you can come tomorrow if you have free time.
Yet	Yet many people still cheat despite the consequences.
So	So I will finish work when I complete all my jobs.

Instead use…

For	Since
And	Furthermore, In addition, Additionally,
Nor	Neither
But	However, Despite this,
Or	Either, Conversely, On the other hand,
Yet	In spite of, Although Nevertheless,
So	Therefore As a result,

Avoid incomplete sentences

make sure your sentence is a complete idea
Ex: Because I am hungry – is an incomplete sentence, change to: I ate early because I am hungry.

CAPITALIZATION

What you need to CAPITALIZE when writing

The first letter in a sentence	Books are now on sale at the bookstore.
The pronoun “I”	She went to the store but I didn’t go
Countries	New Zealand is next to Australia but still far away from Korea
Cities, counties, districts	I lived in Buk-gu in Gwangju My parents live in Yongbong-dong in Gwangju
Names of people	Many people have heard the name Abraham Lincoln before
Names of people	Shakespearian literature, Freudian psychology,
Nationalities	Koreans are similar to Chinese like Canadians are similar to Americans
Companies and brand names	I would like to get a job at Samsung My shoes were made by Nike I worked for 3 years at Kids English Academy
Person’s title	Mr. Ms. Dr. Professor Smith, Vice Principal Lee, President Park the Queen of England, the Prince of Saudi Arabia usually the title will be before a name or place
Mom and Dad (when taking the place of mom and dad)	Steve says he will meet Mom at the store (Mom replaces her name so capital M) We all have moms (this can be lower case)
Schools, colleges and universities	He graduated from Chonnam Boys Middle School Next year I expect to graduate from Chonnam National University
Weekdays, Months	Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday January, February, March, April, May, October, November, December
Special events	Universiade was in July. The Olympics will be in 2018.
Mountains, mountain ranges, hills and volcanoes	Halla-san and Baek-du san are two of the highest mountains in Korea. Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world.
Bodies of water (oceans, lakes, rivers, seas)	Lake Ontario, the Nile River, the Han River, the Black Sea, the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean
Buildings, monuments, bridges	tthe Eiffel Tower, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Titanic,
Name of a street	Main Street, Smith Road, Washington Boulevard
Continents and regions	New England, the Midwest North America, South America, Asia, Africa, Europe, Antarctica
Planets	Mercury, Venus, the Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
Historical periods	the Second World War, the Korean War, the American Revolution, the Enlightenment, the Dark Ages, the Jurassic Era
God’s name	Do you believe in God?

Chonnam National University
not: ~~Chonnam national university~~ OR ~~University of Chonnam~~

the Department of English and Language Literature

I’m studying math, science and English language and literature. The Department of English Language and Literature is closed today.

Formal vs Informal Writing (continued)

Avoid phrasal verbs – take out, go up, leave out, stop by

take out, get rid of	remove, delete	fill in	complete
turn on	start	cut down on	reduce, decrease
stop by	visit	point out	show
leave out	omit, delete	bring about	raise, consider
go up	increase	hand in	submit
go down	decrease	make up	create
set up	establish	think about	consider, contemplate
find out	discover	show up	appear
put off	postpone	pass away	die

2. If there’s a one-word equivalent, it’s better to use it.

say sorry	apologize
get in touch with	contact
It’s about…	It concerns… It is in regards to…
need to …	required…
I think …	in my opinion…
Can you send me your resume?	I was wondering if you could send me your resume?

3. Formal vs Informal Vocabulary

get	obtain, attain	good	positive
seem	appear	bad	negative
show	demonstrate, illustrate, portray	smart	intelligent
start, begin	commence	cheap	inexpensive
keep	retain	right	correct
block	undermine	wrong	incorrect
call me	contact me	empty	vacant
buy	purchase	crazy	insane
want	would like, desire	better	superior
stop	cease	enough	sufficient
get worse	deteriorate	whole	entire
live	reside	happy	satisfied, delighted
shorten	abbreviate	sad	regretful, distressed
end	terminate	poor	underprivileged
help	assist/aid	rich	wealthy, privileged

Transitions, adverbs, conjunctions

anyway	nevertheless	lots of	many, much, a lot of
plus, also	moreover, furthermore, in addition	totally	completely, strongly
but	however	really, very	definitely
so	therefore, thus	in the end	finally, in conclusion
ASAP	as soon as possible, at your earliest convenience	next, later	subsequently
ok, okay, all right	acceptable	at first	initially
in the meantime	in the interim	mostly	principally

5. Expressions

Hi Robert,	Dear Sir or Madam, Dear Mr. Smith
Just wanted to let you know…	I am writing to inform you…
Cheers, Love,	Sincerely, Regards,
Hope to hear from you soon…	I look forward to hearing from you…
You can call me if you need anything…	Please do not hesitate to contact me…
Hello there…	To whom it may concern…
By the way…	In addition…