Once you have an advanced level and can communicate well in English, it’s time to start thinking about register. Register refers to style of speech, and you’ll want to be able to use different registers in different social situations.
If you are in an academic or business setting, you’re likely to want to convey authority. If you are hanging out with friends, casual speech can help you to appear relaxed and warm. In a formal meeting, expressing respect and distance is more appropriate. Knowing about register helps you communicate even more clearly.
Congratulations! It’s already an accomplishment to be able to exchange information in a second language. Now, you can start to focus on expressing yourself more fully, and feel more confident connecting with others in English.
Every culture has a way of using language to tell the other person where they stand in terms of familiarity and closeness.
Take a moment to think about how you use your first language to communicate differently depending on who you are interacting with. What words do you use to greet a boss, a client, an employee, a dear friend?
The formal five registers in English are frozen, formal, consultative, casual, and intimate.
Frozen speech refers to old, out of date English phrases, that lend an air of authority and tradition to an occasion. You are likely to encounter frozen speech in legal and religious circles.
Formal language creates a sense of careful, social distance. It can be used to indicate higher status and dominance, or to show lower social status and deference. It is sometimes used to indicate displeasure or distrust.
Consultative language is about sounding professional and knowledgeable. It employs an official tone, and the vocabulary often includes jargon. Jargon is specialized language used by professionals to discuss their work.
Casual, or normal speech is how most people interact day to day. This is the register we focus on most when learning English, because it tends to be the most useful.
Intimate speech is reserved for one’s inner circle. It’s how we express our deep love and trust for our most beloved.
Let’s look at register in terms of formal, normal, informal, and rude forms of speech.
Here are some tips to help you express yourself in each one:
Formal Speech:
1.) We can use elegant words and phrases, Here are some examples:
commence = start/begin
terminate = end/fire
endeavour = try
inquire = ask
inform = tell
if you wouldn’t mind = if it is okay with you
I apologize = I’m sorry
at your earliest convenience = when you can
express gratitude = say thank you
to be beneficial = to be good
2.) In very formal speech, we often avoid using contractions, like don’t, in place of do not, and can’t instead of cannot.
3.) We usually replace phrasal verbs with a synonym. For example, you can use enter rather than come in, and explode instead of blow up.
Try the Phrasal Verbs Synonym Quiz to practice speaking more or less formally.
4.) Passive Voice
is sometimes used in formal speech to create a sense of distance between the speaker and the action. Go ahead and use Passive Voice when it makes sense to do so, but don’t go overboard!
5.) Try using more elegant connecting words to join your ideas together.
6.) It is considered polite to use the 2nd Conditional for questions, offers and requests.
Would you like…?
Could I offer you…?
Normal Speech:
1.) The 2nd Conditional is also used in every speech to talk about hypothetical situations. However, the ‘would you like’ formula isn’t the only way to make offers in everyday conversation. Other options include:
Do you want some coffee?
Can I get you something to drink?
I’m making some tea. Can I pour you a cup?
2.) Use contractions.
3.) We commonly use Phrasal verbs in normal and informal speech styles.
Informal Speech:
1.) Feel free to use slang, casual idioms, and soft swear words.
2.) We sometimes drop the subject, and even modals, at the beginning of sentences.
Formal: I will see you tomorrow.
Informal: See ya tomorrow!
3.) Not only do we contract words in informal speech, we so farther, and slur words together.
wanna = want to
I wanna beer. You?
gonna = going to
We’re gonna go out, and we’re gonna dance.
shouda = should have
shoudna = should not have
I shouda ordered pizza. I shoudna ordered chicken.
couda = could have
coudna = could not have
Ya cudda told me sooner. I coudna saved you a seat.
wouda = would have
woudna = would not have
He wudda come over, but he’s busy. He woudna been able to hang out long anyway.
4.) When I was a kid, parents and teachers would say, “ain’t ain’t a word”. It is grammatically incorrect, and can make you sound uneducated. But many people use it, and it is gaining popularity. It is a very informal contraction for is not, are not, have not, has not that.
5.) In informal communication, people can play around with language, and even invent their own words. One of the ways we do this it by creating portmanteaus. Another playful way to create new words is to apply grammar rules out of context. For example, it is standard in may cases to add ‘y’ to nouns in order to turn them into adjectives (as in rain becomes rainy). But in casual and intimate speech, people sometimes add ‘y’ when it isn’t standard (Is it safe to pet your dog? She looks kinda bitey.)
6.) Know some basic casual speech.
Rude Speech:
1.) In most social contexts, it is considered rude to use imperatives. Imperatives are orders and commands, and are made by starting with the base form of a verb. Some examples of imperatives are: Get up. Do it. Don’t do that. Don’t sit there.
Notice that we remove the subject it make an order. This is called an imperative. You can add the subject back again to be even more forceful.
Example: You get up now!
2.) A note about ‘what do you want?’ It is a perfectly normal, polite question, if you are asking a friend what they will select from a menu, for example. But it is very rude when it is used as a greeting, or to inquire about how you can offer someone.
Games to Increase your Register and Vocabulary
Formal, Normal, Informal Games – General topics
Formal, Normal, Informal War and Peace Game – B2-C2
