Grammar: ✨ Advanced Stylistics & Nuance (C2) - Lesson 1: Mastering Stylistic Variation & Register for diverse audiences and purposes

Stylistics C2

🦎

The Chameleon

Stylistic Variation & Register

A C2 speaker does not always speak formally. A C2 speaker matches the context perfectly.

🏛️

Formal (Frozen) Academic, Legal, Official Speeches.

🤝

Consultative Business, Doctor-Patient, Strangers.

☕

Casual / Intimate Friends, Family, Social Media.

Key Mechanisms:

Vocabulary

Formal: Latin-origin words (Commence, Inform, Reside).
Casual: Phrasal verbs (Start, Tell, Live).

Syntax

Formal: Passive voice, Nominalization, Complex sentences.
Casual: Active voice, Ellipsis, Simple sentences.

Tone Shifter 🎛️

Same meaning, different skins.

TOPIC: MAKING A MISTAKE

"I messed up. My bad."

TOPIC: ASKING FOR HELP

"I was wondering if you might assist me?"

Appropriateness 🧐

Match the tone to the context.

Context: Email to a University Professor regarding a missed deadline.

Context: Texting a close friend about being late.

Context: A business meeting (Consultative).

Mission 📝

Drafting Emails.

Scenario: Canceling a Meeting

Write two versions of the same message in your notebook.

1. Formal (To a Client):
(Use: regret to inform, reschedule, inconvenience)

2. Casual (To a Colleague):
(Use: can't make it, rain check, sorry)