a weight was lifted off my shoulders

to unwind, chill out, put your feet up

Formal English is mainly used in writing. This style is academic in tone and is
commonly used in academic textbooks, most university essays, business
letters.
In the case of speaking, formal English is usually only used for official or
serious occasions, e.g., to formally welcome guests at a university graduation
ceremony.
Formal English uses more complex vocabulary than everyday speech. For
example, it uses many “bigger” words that aren’t normally used in
conversation. Examples are multi-syllable words
like compensate, ascend and interrogate. It also prefers one-part verbs
(e.g., establish) instead of simpler, phrasal verbs (e.g., set up). Slang and
colloquial vocabulary are avoided.
When formal English is used in writing, sentences tend to be long and
complex, and grammar rules are followed strictly. It tends to be impersonal
(or neutral), often using impersonal pronouns like it and passive verbs.
Contracted and abbreviated forms of words are usually avoided.
Contents

 Rules for Formal Writing

 Tips for Vocabulary for Academic Essays…
 Notes
Rules for Formal Writing
There are certain things that can be done in spoken English or in written
English in newspapers, magazines, or lecture notes or web pages which are
not appropriate for formal writing.

Formal English follow rules of grammar very strictly. Sentences tend to be

longer and more complex. The vocabulary tends to be elevated, using big
words and avoiding colloquial or slang vocabulary. It avoids split infinitives
and prepositions at the end of sentences.

In formal English you have to be aware of the followings:

 Don’t start a sentence with ‘And’, ‘Also’, ‘But’, ‘So’, ‘Or’, ‘Even
so’.  Instead use ‘In addition’, ‘However’, ‘Hence’,
‘Consequently’, ‘Alternatively’, ‘Nevertheless’.
  Don’t start a sentence with ‘Therefore’. Instead write, for
example, ‘We therefore…’.
 Don’t start a sentence with ‘Then’ or ‘Now’ unless it is a command.
 Don’t use ‘don‘t’, or any other shortened negative such as ‘isn’t’,
‘hasn’t’, ‘wasn’t’, etc. Use ‘does not’, ‘is not’, etc. instead.
 Don’t use ‘!’ or ‘&’ or ‘/’. It is also very unusual to see ‘?’ in a
paper. Don’t put questions in a paper unless you really know what
you are doing.
 Don’t use e.g. or i.e. or etc.
 When referring to the number of countable objects, use words
rather than figures when the amount is less than twenty. E.g. Don’t
write “we used 3 methods” – instead write “we used three
methods”.
 Don’t use ‘OK‘. Use ‘acceptably’, ‘permissible’, ‘satisfactory’, etc
instead.
 Don’t use ‘got‘. Instead use ‘obtained’.
 If you can, try to use the passive voice for some of the time when
describing your results. Using ‘we’ in every sentence is a bit
boring.
 List things properly using ‘and‘ between the last two items. E.g.
Don’t do ‘we used three methods A, B, C.‘ Instead you should write
either ‘we used three methods: A, B, and C.’ or ‘we used three
methods, namely, A, B, and C.’
 You cannot have a paragraph that is just one sentence.

Tips for Vocabulary for Academic Essays…

 Use a more formal one-word verb if it sounds more appropriate
than its phrasal verb equivalent.
 Avoid using a personal or conversational style. Therefore, try not to
use words like I, me, my, you, we, us and our. Though these
words are widely used in informal writing and in spoken English,
 they’re generally thought to be too personal and too casual for
formal, academic writing.
 Avoid words or phrases used mainly in normal conversation as
they’re usually not suitable for use in academic writing.
Dictionaries often identify these words with the label “informal.” In
your essay, use a more formal equivalent. Here are some examples:
Avoid “kids”, use “children”,
Avoid “a lot of”, use “much, many”
 Never use colloquial English or slang. Colloquial English is a type
of informal English, and it includes words such
as gonna or wanna, and phrases such as ain’t nothin’ and dead as
a doornail. Dictionaries usually mark colloquial words and phrases
with a label like “colloq.” Because colloquial English and slang are
usually spoken rather than written, they’ll make your academic
writing sound too conversational and so less credible.
 Although it’s usual to contract words in spoken and informal
written English (e.g., can’t, won’t, shouldn’tand hasn’t), it’s
better to avoid using any contractions in your academic essay.
 Avoid abbreviating words in academic writing. Don’t
say yrs, e.g. (which stands for the original Latin exempli gratia and
means “for example”) or i.e. (which stands for the original Latin id
est and means “that is”). Instead, write the words in full using their
English equivalents (years, for example and that is).
Notes
It’s usually easy to decide if a word is informal or formal. Informal words are
those common, ordinary and familiar words that people use every day,
whereas formal words tend to be the more “serious” and less frequently used
words. Often, formal words are longer than informal words. Single-word
verbs are also usually more formal than their phrasal verb equivalents.

For instance, saying something is enormous is formal, but saying

it’s whopping is informal. Phrases like on the one hand or as indicated
above are formal, but phrases like by the way or that reminds me are
informal. Note that some informal words are more formal than other informal
words. The informal verb understand, for example, is more formal than the
informal verb get. However, both are less formal than the formal
verb comprehend.