Who you write to sets the tone: Tone is how formal or informal your German is — and it's set by who reads it and the text type. Two tones matter for Paper 1: informal, built on du (a friend, a classmate — Hallo!, Liebe Grüße), and formal, built on Sie (a company, a teacher, an official — Sehr geehrte/r, Mit freundlichen Grüßen). Choosing the right tone and holding it consistently is what earns Criterion C.
Useful German markers: These German words are the markers that signal each tone — learn them as vocabulary; choosing and holding the tone is explained in English below.
- informal (du): Hallo! · Liebe Grüße
- formal (Sie): Sehr geehrte/r · Mit freundlichen Grüßen
- die Anrede · der Schlussgruß
Ask: who is reading this?: Before writing, ask who the reader is. A friend → du; a company, teacher or stranger → Sie. Decide once, at the planning stage, and every greeting, verb and sign-off follows from it. Get this right and Criterion C is half-won.
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Reader → tone → markers: Match the reader to a tone, and the tone to its markers — the greeting, pronoun 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 | informal | du · Hallo! · Liebe Grüße |
| A company / a teacher | formal | Sie · Sehr geehrte/r · Mit freundlichen Grüßen |
| A blog audience | semi-formal | correct du/ihr · title · warm close |
Three readers, three tones: Friend → informal (du, Hallo!, Liebe Grüße) · Company or teacher → formal (Sie, Sehr geehrte/r, Mit freundlichen Grüßen) · 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 du or Sie, match the greeting, sign-off and vocabulary, 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 du or Sie
A friend or peer → du; a company, teacher or official → Sie. This single choice drives everything else.
3
Match greeting, sign-off & vocab
Line up the greeting (Hallo! vs Sehr geehrte/r), the sign-off (Liebe Grüße vs Mit freundlichen Grüßen) and the vocabulary with your choice.
4
Keep it consistent throughout
Use the same pronoun and verb forms from start to finish — never slip from Sie into du 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 with Sie and drifting into du by the third paragraph. Re-read your verb endings and possessives at the end to catch any drift.
The same request, two tones: Here's one request written twice — once informal (du) to a friend, once formal (Sie) to a college — so you can see the greeting, verb and possessive shift while the message stays the same. The German is the example text; the English explains each shift.
One request, du vs Sie
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.
- „Hallo Marta! Kannst du mir die Informationen über deinen Sommerkurs schicken? Danke für deine Hilfe. Liebe Grüße, Lucia.“
- „Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren, könnten Sie mir die Informationen über Ihren Sommerkurs schicken? Ich danke Ihnen für Ihre Hilfe. Mit freundlichen Grüßen, Lucia García.“
- The key shifts: greeting Hallo! → Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren · verb kannst → könnten · possessive deinen → Ihren · sign-off Liebe Grüße → Mit freundlichen Grüßen. Change all four together — never mix them — to keep the tone consistent.
Four markers move together: Notice the greeting, verb, possessive and sign-off all change together — Hallo!→Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren, kannst→könnten, deinen→Ihren, Liebe Grüße→Mit freundlichen Grüßen. 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 du and Sie, 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 du or Sie and keep it throughout.
- Use Sie with a company or teacher.
- Make the greeting and sign-off match the tone.
- Match the vocabulary to the reader.
Common mistakes
- Mix du and Sie in the same text.
- Be too casual for a formal reader.
- Use a greeting or sign-off that clashes with the tone.
- Drift tone halfway without noticing.
Re-read your verb endings: The mixing error hides in verb endings and possessives — you greet with Sehr geehrte/r but write kannst and dein later. At the end, scan every verb and possessive against your chosen tone. One consistent tone protects Criterion C.