Guide 153 / 200 5 swaps Formal register
Professional words for “inform”
Five register-aware verbs for passing information.
i · When it mattersTwo lines, no filler
"Inform" is flat. "Advise" is the business email default; "notify" is system-like; "brief" is for structured catch-ups; "update" is for changing state; "alert" is for urgency.
ii · The swaps5 ways
- 01Advise neutral
business email default
Please advise on the revised date.
- 02Notify neutral
system-like, triggering
Notify the vendor of the change.
- 03Brief neutral
structured, prepared explanation
Brief the team on Friday’s outage.
- 04Update neutral
pass along new state
Update stakeholders after the review.
- 05Alert neutral
for urgent or unusual events
Alert the on-call engineer.