Phrasal verbs

Does it sound like a dictionary, to you native people, when a foreigner chooses to use a simple verb, instead of a prhasal verb? Or simply more formal?

That's hard to answer without context. Do you have an example?

I also want to know the answer of this from native English speakers! For example, the phrasal verb of 'cancel' is 'call off' and similarly, 'postpone' can be said 'put off'. Which sounds more natural and is frequently used ? 

Yuka wrote:

I also want to know the answer of this from native English speakers! For example, the phrasal verb of 'cancel' is 'call off' and similarly, 'postpone' can be said 'put off'. Which sounds more natural and is frequently used ?

I think "I cancelled the appointment" is a bit more common than "I called off the appointment", but "I called off the wedding" is a bit more common that "I cancelled the wedding". Both are natural and frequently used, but there may be some rule that I don't know about since I'm not a teacher. I think it's more common to say called off when there was a lot of effort put into the object, but I could be wrong.

leosmith wrote:

That's hard to answer without context. Do you have an example?

Actually I wasn't thinking about anything specific, but your question, and later explanation about call off vs cancel, were a response: I understood it's just like any other vocabulary choice, depending on context and mere use (idiomatic). I mean, there's no such generalization as formal/informal.