Tenor
The relationship between participants in a text, including power relationships, familiarity, and social distance. Tenor is one component of register.
Real World
A junior employee emailing their CEO at Google would choose 'Dear Mr Pichai' and formal syntax, while messaging a colleague on Slack they'd write 'hey, can you send that doc?' — tenor shapes every lexical and grammatical choice.
Exam Focus
Analyse tenor by commenting on power, familiarity, and social distance together — examiners want all three dimensions addressed, not just formality.
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