Formal register

How it is used

Used when discussing tone in writing. It often avoids slang, contractions, and overly casual expressions.

Example sentences

1. The supervisor marked several phrases as too conversational and asked the student to revise the paragraph into a formal register.

   Here, formal register means a more academic tone with more careful wording than everyday speech would use.

2. The editor replaced casual greetings with a formal register in the letter to the research funding committee.

   Here, the editor adapts the language to an official audience by replacing casual greetings with more formal wording.

Common collocations

• maintain a formal register
• use a formal register
• shift to a formal register

Related terms

• academic integrityThe commitment to honesty, fairness and responsibility in study and research, including citing sources, reporting data truthfully and doing your own work.
• argumentA position supported by reasons and evidence, or the line of reasoning that runs through an essay, article or thesis.

More terms: Academic Vocabulary

• indicate
• e.g.
• i.e.
• concept
• approach
• implication
• demonstrate
• furthermore
• assumption
• phenomenon
• comprise
• respectively