Words for the media, and formal English
You can write about the media in formal English and make a request that is polite and clear.
Write to a company the way you would text a friend, and the letter sounds rude, even when the grammar is perfect.
This unit is about the media: news, advertising and where people get their information. We start with the words for that topic, and with register, which means how formal your English is. Essays need formal English, and so do letters to companies.
Warm-up
Which one would you send?
You want to tell a newspaper that one of its articles contains a mistake. Which opening suits a letter to the editor?
Choose the opening for a letter to the newspaper.
Words for the media
News and the people who make it
News and discussion about politics and society today. She listens to a current affairs programme on the way to work.
The title of a news story, printed in large letters. Some readers never go further than the headline.
How much a subject is reported, and in what way. The floods got hours of coverage on every channel.
A person or organisation whose information you can trust. Check the story against a second reliable source.
Supporting one side unfairly. Some viewers feel that the channel is biased towards the government.
Newspapers and magazines, and the journalists who work for them. The minister refused to speak to the press.
Advertising and audiences
An advertisement. A commercial is one on television or radio. The film was interrupted by commercials every fifteen minutes.
Aim something at one particular group of people. The campaign targets parents of young children.
A regular payment to receive something, such as a magazine or an app. You subscribe to it. I subscribe to two streaming services.
Someone who is paid to recommend products to the people who follow them online. The brand sent its new phone to twenty influencers.
Spread very quickly online. The video went viral overnight.
Grammar: polite requests in formal English
A letter to a company and every Task 2 essay need formal English. A message to a friend is informal. Most ideas can be said in either register, as these two messages show.
One message, two registers
Guess what, the film app charged me twice this month. I'm going to get them to sort it out.
I am writing because I was charged twice for my subscription this month. Could you please refund the second payment?
What makes English formal
I am, do not, it is. Short forms such as I'm and don't suit speech, and letters to people you know.
Formal English often uses a more exact verb where speech uses get or a phrasal verb: receive for get, contact for get in touch with, solve for sort out.
children for kids, many for loads of, adverts for ads. No slang.
Ask with could or would. An order such as Send me a receipt sounds rude in a letter.
Four polite requests
Could you send me a receipt? The everyday polite request, in speech and in letters.
I would be grateful if you could explain the extra charge. Very polite, and common in formal letters.
I would like a full refund. I would like you to cancel my subscription.
Could you tell me when the refund will arrive? This is an indirect question: the subject comes before the verb, and there is no do or did. For a yes or no question, use if or whether.
Mistakes I see in letters
- I would be grateful if you can refund it. After I would be grateful if, use could or would: if you could refund it.
- Could you tell me when will the refund arrive? In an indirect question the subject goes first: when the refund will arrive.
- Could you tell me why did you charge me twice? Drop did and use the past verb: why you charged me twice.
- I would like that you call me. Would like takes a person and to: I would like you to call me.
- I want my money back. The grammar is fine, but it is too direct for a formal letter. I would like a refund asks for the same thing politely.
Watch me do one
Here is a note someone wanted to send to a magazine: Why haven't I got my magazine this month? Send it now.
The facts are fine. The register is wrong for a letter, so I change it one sentence at a time.
Why haven't I got my magazine? is a direct question, and it sounds like an accusation. I make it indirect: Could you tell me why I have not received this month's issue?
Look at the word order after why: I have not received, with the subject first. I also change got to received, which is more formal.
Send it now is an order, so I rewrite it as I would be grateful if you could post it to me this week.
Last, I read it through once more for contractions and orders. There are none left, and both requests use could.
Practice with Elita6 questions
Six questions: four on formal English and requests, then two on the media words.
After I would be grateful if
Complete the request with one word.
I would be grateful if you send me a copy of the receipt.
Write no more than 1 word.
Word order in a question
This is part of a letter to a news app. One sentence has a word order mistake. Choose it.
Which sentence contains the error?
Polite and clear
You were charged twice for the same month. Which sentence asks for your money back in a formal letter?
Choose the best request.
Formal enough?
This sentence comes from a Task 2 essay about advertising. Is its register right for an essay?
Kids see loads of ads online, and it's a real problem.
Media words
Match each word to its meaning.
The right word
Choose the word that fits the sentence.
Before you share a story, check that it comes from a ______ source.
Use it
A message to a news app
Write to the company behind a news app you pay for. Explain the problem and make two polite requests.
You pay for a subscription to a news app. Since its last update, videos play with the sound on and adverts appear in the middle of articles. Write four or five sentences to the company: explain the problem and make two polite requests. Use two media words from this lesson.
0 / 50 words
Set up your learning path at the top of this lesson to get band-specific feedback.
Before you go
Use full forms and formal words in essays and in letters to companies: I am, receive, children.
Make every request with could or would: Could you...?, I would be grateful if..., I would like you to...
In an indirect question, put the subject before the verb: Could you tell me when the refund will arrive?
Say exactly what you want: a full refund of the second payment tells the company what to do.
Next: Next, you read about why podcasts caught on, and match the start of each sentence to its ending.