# Switch for formal or informal language

**URL:** <https://forum.rasa.com/t/switch-for-formal-or-informal-language/19770>\
**Category:** Rasa Open Source\
**Created:** [October 14, 2019, 1:43pm UTC](https://forum.rasa.com/t/switch-for-formal-or-informal-language/19770 "2019-10-14T13:43:50Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![michaelh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/53a042/32.png) [@michaelh](https://forum.rasa.com/u/michaelh)\
**Post date:** [October 14, 2019, 1:43pm UTC](https://forum.rasa.com/t/switch-for-formal-or-informal-language/19770/1 "2019-10-14T13:43:50Z")

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Hello

i am implementing a german bot and it should be able to communicate both with the formal “Sie” and with the informal “du”. Like the user states at the beginning if the conversation should happen with du or Sie.

My current solution is to write the same story twice, once for each mode. Is there some better way to do it? Something like

\*Hello

- utter\_hi
- utter\_how\_would\_you\_like\_to\_be\_adressed

\*du/Sie → set slot salutation

- utter\_how\_are\_you\_{salutation}

…

with the two utterances:

- how\_are\_you\_sie: Wie geht es Ihnen?
- how\_are\_you\_du: Wie geht es dir?

I know that this is a relatively simple example that could be solved with: - how\_are\_you: Wie geht es {salutation}, but unfortunately the sentence structure/grammar is different for formal and informal ☹

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**Author:** ![Gehova](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/2acd7d/32.png) [@Gehova](https://forum.rasa.com/u/Gehova)\
**Post date:** [October 14, 2019, 7:15pm UTC](https://forum.rasa.com/t/switch-for-formal-or-informal-language/19770/2 "2019-10-14T19:15:25Z")

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You could replace the utter actions with custom actions, and use the salutation slot to select the response.

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**Author:** ![michaelh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/53a042/32.png) [@michaelh](https://forum.rasa.com/u/michaelh)\
**Post date:** [October 15, 2019, 8:11am UTC](https://forum.rasa.com/t/switch-for-formal-or-informal-language/19770/3 "2019-10-15T08:11:55Z")

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That should work. Thank you 😃