What it is: Register is how formal you are. The reader decides it: relaxed for friends, formal for officials and strangers.
| Reader | Register | Greeting | Closing |
|---|---|---|---|
| a friend | informal | Hi Ana! | Take care, |
| classmates (blog) | friendly, semi-formal | Hi everyone! | See you in the comments! |
| a named official | formal | Dear Mr Lee, | Yours sincerely, |
| an unknown company | formal | Dear Sir or Madam, | Yours faithfully, |
| an audience | depends on listeners | Good morning, everyone. | Thank you for listening. |
- register
- how formal your language is
- tone
- friendly, serious, urgent, polite
- contraction
- short form: I'm, can't
- slang
- very informal words: gonna, stuff
- greeting
- the opening: Dear…, Hi…
- sign-off
- the closing: Yours sincerely,
Remember: Choose once, then keep it: greeting, vocabulary, contractions and sign-off all follow the register.
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| Informal (friend) | Formal (official) |
|---|---|
| Hi Maria! | Dear Ms López, |
| Can you send me the info? | Could you send me the information? |
| Thanks a lot for your help. | I am grateful for your help. |
| Take care, | Yours sincerely, |
Make it formal: Have you got time to chat with me?
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- Answer it yourself first, then check.
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Do
- Use Yours faithfully after Dear Sir or Madam.
- Write full forms: I am, do not.
- Keep greeting and closing in one register.
Don't
- Open Dear Sir and close cheers.
- Use slang like gonna with officials.
- Sign a formal email Love, Sam.