In two Visual-World eye-tracking studies (N=32 each; 34 critical items each) we examined whether standard language processing mechanisms closely interact with register representations. To this end, we manipulated congruence in context formality and register and crossed this with semantic verb-argument (in)congruence. Comparing between blocked and mixed formality context presentation evaluated further whether participants adjust trial-by-trial to situation-formality shifts (Experiment 2) or benefit from habituation (Experiment 1). German speakers listened to register variants in a German target sentence when this sentence (mis)matched the formality of a preceding spoken context sentence, given the object argument either matched or mismatched verb meaning constraints. The results revealed a main effect of verb-argument congruency, but not of formality-register congruency, replicating immediate use of verb-argument relations in language comprehension. Formality-register and verb-argument congruency had a significant interaction in Experiment 1 only. Our results suggest that standard language processing mechanisms may closely interact with register representations when participants have time to habituate to the formality of a context (Experiment 1) but not when the social-formality context changes quickly from formal to informal (Experiment 2).