Casual to formal - was gonna have to

[Musicgold]

Hi,

Sentence #1here is from a book. In sentence #2 I have tried to create a bit formal version of #1. Is that correct?

1. I was glad to go, because I knew I was gonna have to turn to a higher power to get this fruit smoothie bill paid off.

2. I was glat to go, because I knew I would have to turn to a higher power to get this fruit smoothie bill paid off.

Thanks,

MG.

[Mister Micawber]

The first point to mention is that 'gonna' is not in itself formal or informal; those terms are irrelevant. 'Gonna' is simply a transcription of the conversational pronunciation of 'going to', and should not be used except in direct quotation in narrative writing.

Having said that, 'have to' is just as informal as 'going to', so you will need to change both verbs if you wish to 'formalize' your sentence. HOWEVER, it is not just the verb that is informal, the whole sentence is an informal context, so that making the verb a more formal one throws off the register of the statement and thereby appears inappropriate.
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Native English teacher at Mister Micawber's

[Musicgold]

MM,

Thanks. So what would be an appropriate formal replacement for #1?

[Alan]

Hi,

[Mister Micawber]

Hello, MG,

Well, to give you an idea of what I am talking about, this might be one possible formalization:

Because I could not satisfy my debt through ordinary means, I was delighted to be able to pursue this.
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Native English teacher at Mister Micawber's