Adapting register with precision

Adjust directness, formality, and interpersonal distance while keeping the same request or criticism clear.

Understand and learn

Work from a natural example to useful language, one small pattern, a spoken attempt, and a response that is relevant to your life.

Leila

Could you clarify what you mean by “final”? I want to make sure we are working from the same assumption.

Leila uses a neutral professional request for clarification.

Marcus

Of course. I meant ready for internal review, not ready for publication.

Marcus resolves the ambiguity without defensiveness.

Leila

That helps. Would you mind updating the heading so that the distinction is explicit?

Leila makes a tactful follow-up request.

Marcus

Certainly. With a close colleague, I might simply say, “Can you make that clearer?”, but this version suits the wider group.

Marcus explicitly compares a more direct and a more formal register.

Understand a natural example and learn a small set of useful words, phrases, and patterns.

These items were selected by the lesson curriculum for practical use—not extracted as an every-word list.

Could you clarify what you mean by…?
Request precision in a neutral professional register.
Could you clarify what you mean by “final”? I want to make sure we are working from the same assumption.
I want to make sure that…
Frame clarification as shared accuracy.
Could you clarify what you mean by “final”? I want to make sure we are working from the same assumption.
Would you mind…?
Make a tactful request that still expects action.
That helps. Would you mind updating the heading so that the distinction is explicit?
It might be worth revisiting…
Offer a formal, indirect recommendation.
It might be worth revisiting…
To put that more directly,…
Signal an intentional shift to greater directness.
To put that more directly,…

Which request is clear and appropriately formal for a new professional contact?

Could you clarify which version you would like us to review?What on earth do you mean?Fix this now.Whatever you want is fine, I suppose.

Deliver the same English request to a close friend, a new colleague, and a formal group, changing only the features the relationship requires.

Use a real request you may need to make in more than one social setting.

Use it with someone