Question

How could a writer best revise the above sentence to avoid overly formal language?

Answer 1

The answer is A: by choosing to end the sentence in a preposition.

 The sentence revision, in the example, can have a change in the position of the preposition "in", moving it to the end of the sentence. This case is possible in informal English. The relative pronoun (which) is often ommited.

Revised sentence: She did not have a container to put the flowers in.

Another example: (in questions) :

To whom were you talking ? (formal)

Who were you talking to ? (informal)

Answer 2

The correct answer is A. By choosing to end the sentence in a preposition

Explanation:

Formal language refers to a less personal language style in which sophisticated or complex words are chosen over colloquial and common words, the construction of sentences is complex, grammar is always followed and the use of slangs, contraction or too informal language is avoided. Formal language is recommended in certain contexts such as job or academy, but the excessive use of it, especially in informal contexts is not always appropriate. In the case of the sentence "She did not have a container in which to put the leftovers" formal language can be seen as the grammatical construction and the use of "in which" is mainly complex and formal, despite the context of the sentence seems informal. Considering this, one appropriate way to avoid overly formal language in this sentence is "by choosing to end the sentence in a preposition" which means the sentence would be "She did not have a container to put the leftovers in" which creates a most common and simple structure and therefore avoids the excessive use of formal language.