Who you write to sets the tone: Tone is how formal or informal your English is — and it's set by who reads it and the text type. Two tones matter for Paper 1: informal (a friend, a classmate — “Hi”, contractions, “See you soon”) and formal (a company, a teacher, an official — “Dear Sir or Madam”, no contractions, “Yours faithfully”). Choosing the right tone and holding it consistently is what earns Criterion C.
- tone
- how formal or informal the language is, matched to your reader
- audience / reader
- the person you are writing to — the one who sets the tone
- informal tone
- relaxed, friendly English for friends and peers (“Hi”, contractions)
- formal tone
- polite, careful English for officials, teachers, companies (“Dear…”, no slang)
- greeting · sign-off
- how a text opens and closes (“Hi Sam” / “See you soon” vs “Dear Mr Patel” / “Yours faithfully”)
Ask: who is reading this?: Before writing, ask who the reader is. A friend → informal; a company, teacher or stranger → formal. Decide once, at the planning stage, and every greeting, word choice and sign-off follows from it. Get this right and Criterion C is half-won.
Reader → tone → markers: Match the reader to a tone, and the tone to its markers — the greeting, word choices and sign-off that signal it. The table below maps the most common readers you'll meet in Paper 1.
| Reader | Tone | Markers |
|---|---|---|
| A friend or classmate | informal | “Hi…” · contractions (I'm, can't) · “See you soon” / “Take care” |
| A company, teacher or official | formal | “Dear Sir or Madam” / “Dear Mr…” · no contractions · “Yours faithfully” / “Yours sincerely” |
| A blog audience | semi-formal | a catchy title · direct address (“you”) · friendly but correct · upbeat close |
Three readers, three tones: Friend → informal (“Hi”, contractions, “See you soon”) · Company or teacher → formal (“Dear…”, no contractions, “Yours faithfully”) · Blog audience → semi-formal. Lock the reader to its markers and you won't drift mid-answer.
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Choose once, hold throughout: The skill is not just choosing the tone but holding it from first word to last. The four moves: identify the reader, choose formal or informal, match the greeting, sign-off and word choices, and keep it consistent throughout.
Choose and hold the tone
1
Identify the reader
Work out who the task asks you to write to — a friend, a teacher, a company, a blog audience.
2
Choose formal or informal
A friend or peer → informal; a company, teacher or official → formal. This single choice drives everything else.
3
Match greeting, sign-off & words
Line up the greeting (“Hi” vs “Dear…”), the sign-off (“See you soon” vs “Yours faithfully”) and your word choices (contractions and slang, or careful full forms) with your choice.
4
Keep it consistent throughout
Use the same tone and word choices from start to finish — never slip from formal into chatty halfway through.
Identify → Choose → Match → Keep
Consistency is the marked thing: Criterion C rewards a tone that's consistent, not just chosen. The classic slip is opening formally with “Dear Sir or Madam” and drifting into “thanks loads” and contractions by the third paragraph. Re-read your greeting, contractions and sign-off at the end to catch any drift.
The same request, two tones: Here's one request written twice — once informal to a friend, once formal to a college — so you can see the greeting, request and sign-off shift while the message stays the same.
One request, informal vs formal
Watching the tone shift
- The same request both ways: asking someone to send you information about a summer course. Only the tone changes — the message stays the same.
- Informal, to a friend: “Hi Marta! Can you send me the info about your summer course? Thanks loads for your help. See you soon, Lucy.” Note the friendly greeting “Hi”, the casual “Can you…”, the contraction and the warm sign-off “See you soon”.
- Formal, to a college director: “Dear Sir or Madam, I would be grateful if you could send me information about your summer course. Thank you for your assistance. Yours faithfully, Lucy Grant.” The greeting becomes “Dear Sir or Madam”, the request softens to “I would be grateful if you could…”, contractions disappear, and the sign-off is “Yours faithfully” with a full name.
- The key shifts: greeting “Hi” → “Dear Sir or Madam” · request “Can you…” → “I would be grateful if you could…” · “Thanks loads” → “Thank you for your assistance” · sign-off “See you soon” → “Yours faithfully”. Move all four together — never mix them — to keep the tone consistent.
Four markers move together: Notice the greeting, request, thanks and sign-off all change together. They're a set: switch all four or none. Mixing them is the fastest way to lose Criterion C.
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Consistent tone vs costly slips: Tone marks are usually lost to mixing formal and informal, being too casual for a formal reader, or a greeting and sign-off that clash with the tone. Here's the contrast.
Consistent tone
- Choose formal or informal and keep it from start to finish.
- Use formal English with a company, a teacher or an official.
- Make the greeting and sign-off match the tone.
- Match your word choices (slang or full forms) to the reader.
Common mistakes
- Mix formal and informal in the same text.
- Be too casual (slang, “gonna”, emojis) for a formal reader.
- Use a greeting or sign-off that clashes with the tone.
- Drift tone halfway through without noticing.
Re-read your contractions and sign-off: The mixing error hides in contractions, slang and the sign-off — you open with “Dear Sir or Madam” but write “can't”, “thanks loads” and “see ya” later. At the end, scan for contractions, slang and a clashing sign-off against your chosen tone. One consistent tone protects Criterion C.