French registers: familiar, standard, formal
Recognizing and adapting your level of French to the context, in writing and speech.
The three main registers
| Register | Context | Example ("to eat") |
|---|---|---|
| Familiar (informal) | Among friends, speech, social media | bouffer |
| Standard | Neutral, everyday use, most conversations | manger |
| Formal | Formal writing, speeches, literature | se restaurer |
Typical markers
- Familiar: "on" instead of "nous" (in speech), dropping "ne" ("j'sais pas"), slang vocabulary.
- Formal: precise vocabulary, frequent subjunctive, phrases like "il convient de" (it is fitting to), subject-verb inversion in questions ("Que pensez-vous ?").
A professional email usually sits between standard and formal depending on the recipient; a message to a close colleague can stay standard, an official letter leans formal.
Adapting to context
| Situation | Expected register |
|---|---|
| Message to a friend | Familiar to standard |
| Professional email | Standard to formal |
| Cover letter, official speech | Formal |
| Report or academic paper | Formal |
Common pitfall
Mixing registers within the same text (a familiar expression in a very formal email, for example) reads as inconsistent, even when each word is correct on its own.
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