Formal vs Informal English

Mini-Lesson Monday, Lesson #188 (Part 2): Considering ‘Can’, ‘Could’, and ‘Be Able To’ through Dickens’ ‘Great Expectations’

📘 ‘He seemed so brave and innocent, that although I had not proposed the contest, I felt but a gloomy satisfaction in my victory. Indeed, I go so far as to hope that I regarded myself while dressing as a species of savage young wolf or other wild beast. However, I got dressed, darkly wiping […]

Mini-Lesson Monday, Lesson #188 (Part 2): Considering ‘Can’, ‘Could’, and ‘Be Able To’ through Dickens’ ‘Great Expectations’ Read More »

Mini-Lesson Monday, Lesson #188 (Part 1): Considering ‘Can’, ‘Could’, and ‘Be Able To’ through Dickens’ ‘Great Expectations’

If you are interested in classic English literature (and if you are reading these Lessons, why wouldn’t you be? 😊), you have surely heard of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations (1861). 📘 “Well, then, understand once for all that I never shall or can be comfortable— or anything but miserable— there, Biddy!— unless I can lead

Mini-Lesson Monday, Lesson #188 (Part 1): Considering ‘Can’, ‘Could’, and ‘Be Able To’ through Dickens’ ‘Great Expectations’ Read More »

Mini-Lesson Monday: Lesson #176 (Part 2): ‘All the Mole’s lively language …’: Distinguishing Between Formal and Informal Registers in English

In the last part of this lesson (see here), we covered the distinctive traits of the formal and informal registers in the English language. I recommend that you check this Part 1 first before reading this, since what we are going to addressed here builds on what was covered before! Through the help of Kenneth

Mini-Lesson Monday: Lesson #176 (Part 2): ‘All the Mole’s lively language …’: Distinguishing Between Formal and Informal Registers in English Read More »

Mini-Lesson Monday: Lesson #176 (Part 1): ‘All the Mole’s lively language …’: Distinguishing Between Formal and Informal Registers in English

Another childhood favourite (I seem to be sharing a lot of these lately!) is today’s classic, The Wind in the Willows (1908) by Kenneth Grahame, a Scottish writer at the turn of the twentieth century. His children’s classic is a story about four animals with human characteristics and personalities (a kind of writing called anthropomorphism, when an animal or

Mini-Lesson Monday: Lesson #176 (Part 1): ‘All the Mole’s lively language …’: Distinguishing Between Formal and Informal Registers in English Read More »