Inglés Formal vs Informal: la Guía Completa de Registro
Elegir el registro adecuado —formal o informal— es una de las habilidades más importantes en inglés. La misma idea puede sonar profesional o descuidada dependiendo de las palabras que elijas. Esta guía cubre 48 ejemplos contrastados en seis áreas clave: desde vocabulario cotidiano hasta escritura académica e inglés hablado.
48 items · 6 topics
"commence / start"
"Commence" is formal; "start" is neutral/informal
"Formal: The meeting will commence at 9 a.m. Informal: Let's start the meeting."
"request / ask"
"Request" is formal; "ask" is everyday informal
"Formal: We kindly request your presence. Informal: Can you ask him to come?"
"assist / help"
"Assist" is formal; "help" is informal and conversational
"Formal: I would be happy to assist you. Informal: Can I help you with that?"
"obtain / get"
"Obtain" is formal; "get" is informal
"Formal: You may obtain a copy from reception. Informal: You can get a copy there."
"terminate / end"
"Terminate" is formal; "end" or "finish" are informal
"Formal: The contract will be terminated. Informal: The deal is ending."
"endeavour / try"
"Endeavour" is highly formal; "try" is everyday
"Formal: We will endeavour to resolve the issue. Informal: We'll try to fix it."
"sufficient / enough"
"Sufficient" is formal; "enough" is informal
"Formal: The evidence is sufficient. Informal: There's enough proof."
"consequently / so"
"Consequently" is formal; "so" is informal
"Formal: Consequently, the project was delayed. Informal: So we were late."
"passive vs active voice"
Formal writing uses passive; informal uses active
"Formal: The report was submitted by the team. Informal: The team submitted the report."
"long complex sentences"
Formal register uses complex multi-clause sentences
"Formal: Notwithstanding the challenges encountered, the committee reached a unanimous decision."
"contractions avoided"
Formal writing avoids contractions
"Formal: It is not possible. Informal: It's not possible."
"sentence fragments"
Informal speech and writing often use fragments
"Informal: Sounds good. See you then. Formal: That proposal sounds good. I look forward to seeing you."
"impersonal constructions"
Formal text often avoids "I" with impersonal phrases
"Formal: It is recommended that… Informal: I recommend that you…"
"subordinate clauses"
Formal writing stacks subordinate clauses
"Formal: Given that the deadline has been extended, it may be advisable to revise the scope."
"modal verbs for softening"
Formal uses "would", "may", "might"; informal uses "will", "can"
"Formal: Could you please review this? Informal: Can you check this?"
"ellipsis in speech"
Informal speech drops words; formal uses complete sentences
"Informal: Coming tomorrow? Formal: Will you be attending tomorrow?"
"Dear Mr/Ms [Surname]"
Standard formal salutation in letters and emails
"Dear Ms Johnson, I am writing to enquire about the position advertised."
"Hi / Hey [First name]"
Informal greeting used with colleagues or friends
"Hi Sarah, just wanted to check in about the report."
"To Whom It May Concern"
Formal opening when the recipient is unknown
"To Whom It May Concern: I am writing on behalf of our organisation."
"Yours sincerely / Yours faithfully"
Formal closings for letters; "sincerely" when name is known
"Yours sincerely, David Hughes. (Used when the name is in the opening.)"
"Best regards / Kind regards"
Semi-formal email closing, widely used professionally
"Kind regards, Anna. This works in most professional email contexts."
"Cheers / Take care"
Informal sign-offs used with people you know well
"Cheers, Tom. (Used in internal emails or messages with close colleagues.)"
"Good morning/afternoon"
Formal greeting at the start of a meeting or call
"Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining today's session."
"What's up? / How's it going?"
Very informal greetings used with friends or close peers
"What's up? Haven't seen you in ages!"
"I am writing to inform you"
Formal phrase to state the purpose of an email
"I am writing to inform you that your application has been received."
"Just a quick note"
Informal opener for a brief message
"Just a quick note to let you know I'll be out of office on Friday."
"Please find attached"
Formal phrase to indicate an attachment
"Please find attached the revised proposal for your consideration."
"I've attached / Here's the file"
Informal way to mention an attachment
"I've attached the file — let me know what you think!"
"I would appreciate it if you could"
Formal polite request in email
"I would appreciate it if you could review the document by Thursday."
"Could you…? / Can you…?"
Semi-formal and informal ways to make a request
"Could you send me the report? / Can you send it over?"
"I look forward to hearing from you"
Formal closing statement in professional emails
"I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience."
"Let me know / Get back to me"
Informal requests for a response
"Let me know if you have any questions. Get back to me when you can."
"This paper argues that"
Standard formal phrase to state a thesis
"This paper argues that climate change disproportionately affects low-income communities."
"I think / I believe"
Informal opinion markers, generally avoided in academic writing
"Informal: I think this is important. Academic: The evidence suggests this is significant."
"Furthermore / Moreover / In addition"
Formal discourse markers to add information
"Furthermore, the data indicates a significant correlation between the two variables."
"The findings suggest"
Hedged academic language for reporting results
"The findings suggest a strong positive correlation between stress and absenteeism."
"It can be argued that"
Formal academic phrase for presenting a position
"It can be argued that early intervention produces better long-term outcomes."
"lots of / a lot of"
Informal quantifiers avoided in formal academic writing
"Informal: A lot of studies show this. Academic: Numerous studies demonstrate this."
"Notwithstanding"
Formal concessive connective used in academic and legal writing
"Notwithstanding these limitations, the results remain statistically significant."
"As evidenced by"
Formal phrase to introduce supporting evidence
"As evidenced by the data in Table 2, output increased by 34% in the second quarter."
"gonna / going to"
"Gonna" is informal spoken; "going to" is neutral to formal
"Informal: I'm gonna call him later. Formal: I am going to contact him this afternoon."
"wanna / want to"
"Wanna" is very informal; avoided in any formal context
"Informal: Do you wanna join? Formal: Would you like to attend?"
"kind of / sort of"
Hedging expressions common in informal speech
"Informal: It's kind of complicated. Formal: It is somewhat complex."
"yeah / yes"
"Yeah" is very informal; "yes" is neutral to formal
"Informal: Yeah, that works for me. Formal: Yes, that would be acceptable."
"you know / I mean"
Filler phrases typical of informal spoken English
"Informal: It was, you know, quite difficult. (Not used in formal speech.)"
"basically / literally"
Overused informal adverbs common in casual speech
"Informal: I basically did all the work. Formal: I completed the majority of the work."
"hang on / one moment please"
"Hang on" is informal; "one moment" is formal
"Informal: Hang on, let me check. Formal: One moment, please. I will verify that."
"to be honest / frankly speaking"
"To be honest" is informal; "frankly" is more formal
"Informal: To be honest, I disagree. Formal: Frankly, I hold a different view."
Preguntas frecuentes
¿Cuál es la diferencia entre el inglés formal e informal?
El inglés formal usa vocabulario preciso, oraciones completas, construcciones pasivas y evita contracciones y jerga. Se usa en escritura comercial, artículos académicos, cartas oficiales y entornos profesionales. El inglés informal es más relajado: usa contracciones, palabras coloquiales y oraciones más cortas. Aparece en conversaciones con amigos, correos casuales y redes sociales.
¿Cuándo debo usar inglés formal?
Usa inglés formal cuando escribas a alguien que no conoces bien, en escritura académica, solicitudes de empleo, correspondencia oficial, documentos legales y presentaciones profesionales. En caso de duda, lo formal es más seguro: siempre puedes relajar el registro una vez establecida la relación.
¿Puedo mezclar inglés formal e informal?
Sí, pero con cuidado. El inglés semiformal —muy usado en correos de trabajo— combina estructura educada con un tono natural. La clave es la coherencia: evita saltar entre lo muy formal y lo muy coloquial dentro del mismo documento o mensaje.
¿Cómo afecta el registro a la elección del vocabulario?
El inglés formal tiende a usar palabras de origen latino (commence, sufficient, endeavour), mientras que el informal prefiere equivalentes más cortos de origen germánico (start, enough, try). El vocabulario formal también tiende a ser más largo, más específico y evita los phrasal verbs como get o put up with.
¿El inglés hablado también tiene registros formal e informal?
Por supuesto. El inglés oral formal se usa en presentaciones, entrevistas de trabajo, charlas académicas y reuniones con superiores. Evita muletillas, contracciones y jerga. El inglés oral informal es el de la conversación cotidiana e incluye formas como gonna, wanna, yeah y muletillas discursivas.
La mejor manera de interiorizar el registro es escucharlo en uso real. Explora contenido de vídeo auténtico en inglés y observa cómo los hablantes cambian entre estilos formales e informales.
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