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Formality dependence, or formality-dependent variation, is a concept in sociolinguistics and computational linguistics that describes how language choice shifts with the formality of a social context. It encompasses changes in vocabulary, syntax, pronouns, and politeness strategies as speakers adapt to audience, setting, and communicative goals. In many languages, formal and informal registers are distinguished by explicit forms such as honorifics, pronouns, or verb endings; for example, Japanese keigo, Spanish usted versus tú, French vous versus tu, and Korean honorific systems. In English, formality is often conveyed through vocabulary, tone, and syntactic complexity rather than a distinct grammatical system.

Research on formality dependence examines how formality correlates with factors like social status, age, gender, culture, and situational context, as well as how speakers shift registers across conversations. It also investigates how formality interacts with politeness, power dynamics, and authority in communication. In natural language processing, formality-aware approaches aim to generate or transform text to a chosen level of formality, or to detect formality levels for improved understanding and user experience. Challenges include operationalizing formality across languages, creating reliable metrics, and handling cross-cultural differences in politeness norms.

See also: politeness theory, sociolinguistics, register, honorifics, formality, keigo, style-shifting, natural language generation.