Who you write to sets the register: Register is how formal or informal your English is — and it's set by who reads it and the text type.
Two registers 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 register and holding it consistently is exactly what earns Criterion C (Conceptual understanding).
- register
- how formal or informal the language is
- audience / reader
- the person you are writing to — the one who sets the register
- informal register
- relaxed, friendly English for friends and peers ("Hi", contractions)
- formal register
- polite, careful English for officials, teachers, companies ("Dear…", no slang)
- greeting
- how a text opens ("Hi Sam" vs "Dear Mr Patel")
- sign-off
- how a text closes ("See you soon" vs "Yours faithfully")
- tone
- the feeling behind the words — warm and chatty, or polite and reserved
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 → register → markers: Match the reader to a register, and the register 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 | Register | 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" |
| The readers of a blog | semi-formal | a catchy title · direct address ("you") · friendly but correct · upbeat close |
Three readers, three registers: 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 register 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 all the way through.
Choose and hold the register
1
Identify the reader
Work out who the prompt 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 that choice.
4
Keep it consistent throughout
Hold 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 register 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, your contractions and your sign-off at the end to catch any drift.
The same request, two registers: 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 register shift
- The same request both ways: asking someone to send you information about a summer course. Only the register changes — the message stays exactly 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 register consistent.
Four markers move together: Notice the greeting, request, thanks and sign-off all change together — "Hi"→"Dear Sir or Madam", "Can you…"→"I would be grateful if you could…", "Thanks loads"→"Thank you for your assistance", "See you soon"→"Yours faithfully".
They're a set: switch all four or none. Mixing them is the fastest way to lose Criterion C.
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Consistent register vs costly slips: Register 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 register. Here's the contrast.
Consistent register
- 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 register.
- Match your word choices (slang or full forms) to the reader.
Typical mistakes
- Mixing formal and informal in the same text.
- Being too casual (slang, "gonna", emojis) for a formal reader.
- A greeting or sign-off that clashes with the register.
- Drifting register 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 register. One consistent register protects Criterion C.