I.adjectiveCOLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a formal announcement
▪ A formal announcement will be made in Parliament.
a formal apology
▪ Russia is demanding a formal apology.
a formal appeal
▪ She decided to make a formal appeal through her lawyer.
a formal application (=made officially)
▪ Turkey has made a formal application to join the European Union.
a formal occasion
▪ He wore the suit on formal occasions.
a formal process
▪ A decision will only be taken after a formal consultation process.
a formal proposal
▪ Schools made formal written proposals.
a formal reception
▪ There will be a formal reception in honour of his life and work.
a formal request
▪ The government made a formal request for food aid.
a formal statement (=one you must sign to show that it is true)
▪ You will be asked to make a formal statement.
a formal/informal agreement
a formal/official complaint
▪ The man has lodged a formal complaint against the police.
a formal/official invitation
▪ The president received a formal invitation to visit Nigeria.
an informal/formal interview
▪ Applicants will normally have an informal interview with the manager.
▪ One out of every six candidates reached the formal interview.
an official/formal report
▪ Black graduates still face discrimination from employers, according to an official report.
formal bow
▪ This is done with a formal bow to the king or queen.
formal clothes
▪ It’s best to wear formal clothes for an interview.
formal consultation (=organized in a formal way)
▪ Better methods of formal consultation are needed.
formal education (=from teachers at school or college, rather than learning by yourself)
▪ She had no formal education and was brought up by her grandmother.
formal qualifications (=official qualifications rather than experience)
▪ He has no formal qualifications.
formal training
▪ Vaughan had no formal training in art.
formal wear
▪ Actresses were dressed in everything from formal wear to miniskirts.
formal/informal register
▪ letters written in a formal register
formal/informal
▪ The letter sounded very formal.
formal/official approval
▪ Finance ministers gave their formal approval in July.
official/written/formal notification
▪ We received official notification that Harry was missing.
sb’s personal effects (formal) (=small possessions, clothing etc)
▪ After his suicide, his mother received his personal effects.
stiff and formal
▪ Their goodbyes were stiff and formal.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
less
▪ The timetable for this form of learning needs to be much less formal.
▪ In contrast, expert systems rely heavily on heuristics, or rules of thumb, which are much less formal.
▪ They mean, broadly speaking, that the talk is less formal.
▪ Difficult or not, I none the less believe that we should seek less formal settings.
▪ In the later years, teaching generally becomes less formal.
▪ In other roles -- doing clerical work, handling phones -- her garb is less formal.
▪ Their associations and less formal networks are adjusted to centralisation because that is what they have grown up with.
▪ You might also find a less formal arrangement.
more
▪ Is the meeting held in the informal comfort of the staff room or is the setting a more formal arrangement?
▪ Freedom of political organization is more formal than real, and corruption is widespread throughout the whole political system.
▪ Some theories are more formal than others.
▪ Their engagement might have been made more formal, might have been expressed with more resolve, she thought.
▪ Things had to be more formal in the nursery school because of the larger numbers involved.
▪ Toward higher-level managers, workers were much more formal in their relations.
▪ Some people like this, others prefer a more formal approach.
▪ It is sung at family celebrations like this one, but also at more formal occasions.
■ NOUN
agreement
▪ Two years later the moratorium was confirmed, although it has never become a formal agreement.
▪ The meeting concluded without formal agreement.
▪ The formal agreement between the two parties is based purely upon an agreed discount rate.
▪ Barneys says those stores marked the beginning of a beautiful friendship, a joint venture that only awaited a formal agreement.
▪ It was a formal agreement between himself and Richard, signed in their mingled blood on 29 November 1963.
▪ But a formal agreement does not appear to have been regarded as essential.
▪ Sporadic talks on the issue have failed to reach any formal agreement.
▪ Restrictive practices Restrictive practices, in the form of formal agreements between firms, are presumed to operate against the public interest.
announcement
▪ He looked cool and infinitely experienced, listening apparently with grave attention to the herald's formal announcement.
▪ The network is to make a formal announcement Thursday morning.
▪ Developers are staying tight-lipped about details of the housing scheme until a formal announcement is made.
▪ The formal announcement is believed to be scheduled for September, with modest volumes to be deliverable around November time.
▪ But they are likely to delay formal announcements until mid-October.
approval
▪ A number of settlements require the formal approval of the court.
▪ It helps if we know where to go for formal approval of decisions, or know who is responsible for what.
▪ The procedure has not gained formal approval by the International Olympic Committee because it does not give conclusive proof of drug use.
authority
▪ Like the new managers, most superiors emphasized that the manager was the one with formal authority and decision-making responsibility.
▪ The lessons of what it meant to be the formal authority were coming home to roost.
▪ Moreover, learning to exercise formal authority and to create a productive, satisfied work force were new challenges.
▪ Although the new managers had focused on the privileges that came with formal authority, the superiors emphasized the duties-the accountability.
▪ For them, the managerial role was mainly one of formal authority and managing the task, not the people.
▪ Because they had formal authority, the managers were to arbitrate any disputes that then arose.
▪ In contrast to the Rational / Bureaucratic model, formal authority relationships are minimized in the Collegial / Consensus model.
▪ With formal authority came decision-making responsibility and accountability.
complaint
▪ But her family have now lodged a formal complaint with the Police Complaints Authority which is to investigate.
▪ Preble, meanwhile, stands by her allegations and has filed a formal complaint with the Tucson Police Department.
▪ Erdogan Kizilkaya submitted a formal complaint to the Kayseri State Prosecutor, in which he named those responsible for his torture.
▪ That agency had received no formal complaints about Logan as of Saturday, Kinton said.
▪ Of course, Alladice can occupy his time in custody by lodging any number of formal complaints.
▪ Checking city records, Woodward had discovered that among the formal complaints was one from Martha Mitchell, Watergate resident.
▪ If Sidacai cared to lodge a formal complaint, the jailers would suffer punishment. probably he would not complain.
▪ They further said that they had received no formal complaint from Ahmed Ashraf.
education
▪ Nothing is known about the brothers' formal education or early apprenticeships.
▪ Of his formal education we know relatively little.
▪ Of respectable working-class background with some pretentions to gentility, without formal education, she nevertheless possessed an instinctive refinement of manner.
▪ In a society that valued upward mobility, formal education became a gateway to economic and social success.
▪ That was the sum total of my formal education for the craft.
▪ Consequently, black youths in many instances are not keen on formal education in any case.
▪ But today students need more formal education to learn the academic skills that increasingly are required on the job.
garden
▪ Eighteenth-century maps of historic towns often show elaborate formal gardens behind the houses, but very few traces of these remain.
▪ Randall Lodge's attractive formal gardens stretched round the east and south-east aspects.
▪ In the mornings she walked in the formal garden.
▪ Steam enthusiasts may ride Britain's longest private railway and Hestercombe House will delight lovers of formal gardens.
▪ There was no formal garden to the house, no garden fence.
▪ To the West of the formal gardens is a paddock planted with a variety of trees and shrubs.
▪ The formal garden was designed by Gertrude Jekyll.
▪ Set in a valley, tucked away from the house and formal gardens, a series of temples and tunnels surround a lake.
investigation
▪ The Commission for Racial Equality can carry out a formal investigation and issue a non-discrimination notice.
▪ Ossig concedes that a formal investigation was not done, saying there was not enough evidence to justify it.
▪ The commission has confirmed to Community Care that it is carrying out another formal investigation under section 6 of the Charities Act.
▪ He is being placed under formal investigation for allegedly concealing losses at a Paribas unit in 1991.
▪ The results of this formal investigation are very significant for those employers who insert mobility clauses into employees' contracts of employment.
▪ With that, the formal investigation of charges centering on a college course Gingrich once taught will come to an end.
invitation
▪ The four shortlisted groups will now get formal invitations within the next few weeks to participate in the consultation phase.
▪ Two of the Volunteers attended, even though they had not received the customary formal invitations.
▪ Do you know they send out formal invitations, like at your wedding or Bar Mitzvah, to state executions?
meeting
▪ The Chancellor is not a man for formal meetings.
▪ The first formal meeting of top nuclear safety regulators is expected to take place in December.
▪ The talks lasted from 13 - 27 January 1947, with ten formal meetings and a lavish exchange of memoranda.
▪ After negotiation about its substance, a revised, agreed version was presented to the departmental team at a formal meeting.
▪ Before the formal meetings, preparatory groups examined in detail the matters before the standing commissions.
▪ It might be an informal chat with some one or it might be a formal meeting with a group of people.
▪ For example, departments which had been recommended to have more formal meetings were unable to proceed with this.
▪ There had been no formal meetings and accounts had not been issued to members.
occasion
▪ Hence peace-makings were solemn and formal occasions, committing groups of people to restraint.
▪ It is sung at family celebrations like this one, but also at more formal occasions.
▪ The rules are most useful on formal occasions like weddings, and particularly when they happen only once in a lifetime.
procedure
▪ There is no formal procedure, like the pastoral Measure, for declaring unwanted churches redundant and deciding their future.
▪ The formal procedure is seen as a substitute for a more spontaneous flow and nurture of ideas.
▪ But it is bound to stimulate the evolution of formal procedures for overcoming the obstacles met by investigators.
▪ Control is exercised at the centre and it is characterised by informal webs of influence rather than formal procedures.
▪ As soon as he arrived, the formal procedure began.
▪ It is characterised by formal procedures and offers the individual security, stability and predictability.
▪ Rituals and Cults Moving house; preliminary and formal procedures, packing, redecorating etc.
▪ It is very likely to over-react, however, and introduce formal procedures that swing the pendulum too far the other way.
qualification
▪ They are at a relative disadvantage because individuals without any formal qualifications are more likely to experience unemployment.
▪ Rather they were with practical home skills and formal qualifications.
▪ Some resent the emphasis increasingly being laid upon formal qualifications in the authorities' recruitment policies.
▪ What impact will the increasing acquisition of formal qualifications by women have on existing, and future, structures?
▪ Students' Union Each student registered on a course leading to a formal qualification is automatically eligible for Students' Union membership.
▪ Inevitably, the great majority of pupils left at the age of fifteen and without any formal qualifications.
▪ It is estimated that over half the legal executives working in solicitors' practices hold no formal qualification in law at all.
▪ An obvious criticism of the Braverman de-skilling thesis comes from the data showing a growing percentage of the workforce with formal qualifications.
recognition
▪ Moscow was delighted, seeing formal recognition of its sphere of influence.
▪ During the following twelve months the sultan issued a series of decrees which gave formal recognition to the MiloÜ-Marasli agreement.
▪ Essentially the formal recognition of a union legitimises workers' resistance, and this can immeasurably strengthen their bargaining position.
▪ But any more fundamental change, which would constitute the ultimate formal recognition of their new identity, is to be denied.
▪ Future plans for the Sciences will also involve negotiations with appropriate bodies regarding formal recognition of the new provision.
request
▪ There was some confusion, however, as to whether any formal requests for aid had been received.
▪ A Justice Department official said there was no record of any formal request by Wynn for a pardon.
▪ The Catholic Media Office said 2,094 made the formal request to be received into the Church at the cathedral services.
▪ A formal request for development proposals for the Ferry Building is being drafted now, Osmundson said.
▪ Following the formal request for a special prosecutor, Attorney General William Barr had up to 30 days to make a preliminary ruling.
▪ A formal Request for Financial Proposals will be delivered this month, with responses due by November 12.
statement
▪ This is simply a more formal statement of the stipulation that, on average, expectations should be realized.
▪ The weekend G-7 meeting will be informal and there are no plans to issue a formal statement, he said.
▪ Yet there has been no formal statement from Ministers.
▪ Schoolchildren are entitled to special equipment, but only if it is expressly provided for in their formal statement of needs.
▪ The charter incorporates a formal statement of three standards: accuracy, punctuality and delivery turnaround.
▪ There can be little doubt about the need for the clear formal statement of the aims of nurse education.
▪ We also want her formal statement.
▪ The head had asked the educational psychologist to come and assess him with a view to producing a formal Statement of Special Educational Needs.
structure
▪ This is what the meeting is notionally about, or as we have already described it, the formal structure.
▪ As to the formal structure of local government, however, it is relatively easy to specify which ranks lowest.
▪ To understand the workings of an organisation we need to impose the structure of human relationships on top of the formal structure.
▪ Today, there is no formal structure to investigate or even debate whether UFOs have skipped through our atmosphere.
▪ And the work eschews the kind of formal structure that would knit the cast into some larger imaginative world.
▪ We have a formal structure, but we all work together.
▪ Figure 21 shows a typical formal structure embodied in an organisation chart.
▪ Beyond these formal structures, the folks at Thayer challenge yet one more notion that often shapes the structures of schooling.
system
▪ The next step is to consider whether the notional system reflects the characteristics of the formal system model.
▪ Now what about the subset which represents the true propositions of our formal system?
▪ In essence, formal systems and procedures depend on local knowledge.
▪ The Rational / Bureaucratic model can produce overly restrictive formal systems that stifle initiative and reduce responsiveness to change.
▪ It is therefore vital for services to have a formal system in place for monitoring the standards of care being provided.
▪ Having our list of proofs, we also have a list of all the theorems of the formal system.
▪ Three such mechanisms are evaluated: community policing arrangements, police complaints procedures and formal systems of accountability.
▪ There is no formal system to help him track the material in the room.
training
▪ We believe that formal training in the use of the laryngeal mask would be beneficial to any physician dealing with such cases.
▪ There are still those who prefer to take their chances in the profession without any formal training.
▪ Formal Training Over half the farms had some one who had taken part in some kind of formal training.
▪ Delegates also called for increased formal training to help achieve higher and more consistent standards.
▪ With little formal training, she has now produced several illustrated books of animal portraits.
▪ You may be an experienced manager seeking to update your knowledge through formal training.
▪ The others with formal training included teachers, nurses, engineers and mariners.
▪ It's the latest episode in a success story for Pete, who has no formal training as a blacksmith.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ A formal agreement between the two countries was signed in 1999.
▪ a formal announcement
▪ A formal ceremony was held to celebrate the anniversary of his death.
▪ a formal dance
▪ A lot of people found my father rather formal and aloof, particularly when they first met him.
▪ Fifteen formal complaints have been made about the hospital in the past year.
▪ Her lawyers have made a formal request that she be allowed to stay in the country until her husband's trial.
▪ His parents are very formal.
▪ It's time for formal manners to be used again in the workplace.
▪ men's formal wear
▪ On July 19th a formal declaration of war was made.
▪ Our boss is very formal - he doesn't call anyone by their first name.
▪ Paris has a number of beautiful formal parks.
▪ She wrote a formal letter of application for the job.
▪ The class includes formal lectures as well as field trips.
▪ They filed a formal complaint.
▪ What should I call your mom? "Mrs. Dunlap" seems too formal.
▪ You shouldn't use "Yours faithfully" - it's much too formal for this kind of letter.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ A large minority favors formal separation.
▪ San Francisco has had a formal needle exchange throughout the 1990s.
▪ Some theories are more formal than others.
▪ The aim was to have as few restrictive, formal rules as possible - to make this a genuinely open show.
▪ The cognitive capabilities of the adolescent with fully developed formal operations are qualitatively equal to those of the adult.
▪ The need for formal assessment has already been conceded by teachers.
▪ The principal advantage of such a requirement is that it signals, in a formal way, that the procedure is under way.
II.nounEXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ The school is holding a winter formal.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ A tangerine-and-lime brocade formal in perfect condition comes to mind.
▪ And the women were in their formals and they all sat down and there was not a laugh in the entire show.