Office English / Formal or informal?

How formal should we be at work?

I think it's more about the context than how formal the language should be.

I think with colleagues that you spend a lot of time with, you have a bit more freedom to be informal because it takes a lot of effort to be formal with people you see all the time.

If you get on quite well with your colleagues and you're just having a chat about the weekend, then of course you can speak using language you wouldn't use in a meeting with your boss.

Today we're talking about formal and informal workplace language.

So, Phil, we've just been hearing from some of our BBC Learning English colleagues about using formal language at work. What do we mean by formal language, Phil? What's the difference between formal and informal language?

Sometimes this could be a bit tricky, but the main thing to think is that it's the kind of language that you probably don't use with your friends and family. It's often more like the kind of language you'd write in a letter, maybe.

Mhm. Yeah. So it can include lots of different things. It can be about the style of language that you use. It can be about speaking in more full sentences or more words, or it can be about the kind of vocabulary you use as well. So it's lots of different things. Informal language is usually things you would say to your friends and family and using language like contractions or colloquialisms, shortenings. That's what we mean by informal language.

Yes. And it can sometimes be tricky to know how formal to be at work, because different workplaces have different, have a different culture. Some places are just more formal than others. And the most important thing to do is to be able to recognise it and try and fit in with everyone else.

So today we'll discuss greetings, requests and instructions, and we'll look at some formal and informal phrases for each.