Duration: 90 minutesModule: General Training WritingFocus: Register drift as the commonest band-limiter · the semi-formal middle ground · functional language · one situation, two registers
Objectives
Identify register drift in a letter and explain why it caps Task Achievement at 6.
Write in the semi-formal register without sliding into either extreme.
Use contractions, phrasal verbs and idiom deliberately in an informal letter, as evidence of range.
Deploy functional language for the six jobs a letter does: requesting, complaining, apologising, thanking, inviting, explaining.
Write the same situation twice, in two registers, and see the difference in your own sentences.
Every writing box on this page marks itself
Write your answer, then press Get AI Evaluation. You get indicative bands on all four criteria within about twenty seconds, tuned for letters rather than charts. It is practice guidance, not an official score — always submit by email as well so your teacher sees the script.
0:00 – 0:15
Review: The Most Common Way to Cap a Letter
Let's look at what came back from last night. The pattern that shows up most is not grammar. It is register drift — a letter that starts in one voice and finishes in another.
Why this costs so much
Task Achievement asks whether the tone is appropriate to the recipient and consistent throughout. A letter with excellent vocabulary and near-perfect grammar that opens "Dear Sir or Madam" and closes "Best wishes", or slips two contractions into an otherwise formal paragraph, is held at 6 on that criterion. Your other three criteria can be at 7 and the overall band still drops.
Put bluntly: register consistency is worth more marks than any vocabulary you could learn tonight, and it takes about ten minutes to master.
Spot the drift
This is a formal letter to a company. Find five things wrong with the register.
Dear Sir or Madam,
I'm writing about the tour I booked with you last month, which honestly was a bit of a disaster. The bus turned up two hours late and the guide didn't know much about the temples at all.
I'd be grateful if you could sort this out and give me some money back. Please can you reply soon because I'm going away next week.
Cheers, S. Maharjan
Contractions — I'm, didn't, I'd, I'm. Four in a short letter. Write them out in full.
"a bit of a disaster" / "Cheers" — conversational idiom in a formal letter.
"turned up" / "sort this out" — phrasal verbs. Use arrived and resolve this matter.
"Please can you" — spoken request form. Use I would be grateful if you could or I should be obliged if you would.
"Cheers" with "Dear Sir or Madam" — breaks the pairing rule outright. Should be Yours faithfully.
Also worth noticing: "give me some money back" is vague. A partial refund of the tour price names the remedy.
0:15 – 0:45
Semi-Formal: The One Most People Get Wrong
Formal and informal are easy to picture. Semi-formal is the one candidates fall off, in both directions — a letter to a landlord written as though to a government ministry, or a letter to a manager written as though to a schoolfriend.
The test
You know their name, and you have a reason to be polite that is not friendship. Manager, landlord, neighbour, a colleague in another department, a teacher, a course tutor, the secretary of a club you belong to.
The voice: warm but professional. "I would be grateful if…" is fine. "I'd really appreciate it if…" is fine. "Please can you sort it out" is not, and neither is "I should be obliged if you would forthwith…".
Semi-formal — safe phrases
I am writing to ask whether…
I would be grateful if you could…
I wondered whether it might be possible to…
I hope this is not too inconvenient.
Please do let me know if you need any more information.
Thank you for your help with this.
Close: Yours sincerely, (or Best regards,)
Informal — safe phrases
I just wanted to say thank you for…
I've got some news… / Guess what?
Sorry it's taken me so long to write.
Do you fancy…? / Would you be up for…?
Anyway, let me know what you think.
Give my love to everyone.
Close: Best wishes, / Take care, / See you soon,
The mistake nobody warns you about
Writing to a friend in formal English is just as wrong as writing to a company in casual English. If the prompt says "write to your friend" and you produce "I am writing to inform you that I have recently returned from a period of travel", that is a register mismatch and Task Achievement is capped.
In an informal letter, contractions and phrasal verbs are not permitted lapses — they are evidence of range. Use them deliberately.
0:45 – 1:05
Functional Language: Six Jobs a Letter Does
Almost every GT letter task is one of six jobs, or two of them combined. Learn one reliable phrase per job per register and you will never be stuck for an opening again.
Job
Formal / semi-formal
Informal
Requesting
I would be grateful if you could… · I am writing to request…
Could you do me a favour? · Any chance you could…?
Complaining
I am writing to complain about… · I was disappointed to find that…
I have to tell you, I wasn't happy about…
Apologising
I would like to apologise for… · Please accept my apologies for…
I'm so sorry about… · I feel terrible about…
Thanking
I am writing to thank you for… · I am most grateful for…
Thank you so much for… · I can't thank you enough for…
Inviting
I would like to invite you to… · We should be delighted if you could join us.
Do you fancy…? · You should come — it'd be great to see you.
Explaining
The reason for this is that… · This is due to the fact that…
The thing is… · What happened was…
Range, not repetition
Lexical Resource rewards range. If you apologise three times in a letter using "I am sorry" three times, that is one phrase used three times. "I would like to apologise for…", "I do regret…", and "I hope you can forgive the inconvenience" is three. Same letter, better band.
1:05 – 1:30
Same Situation, Two Registers
The most useful exercise in this module. One situation, written twice — once semi-formally, once informally. Ten minutes each. You will feel the difference in your own writing far more sharply than you would from any table.
Version A — semi-formal
You will not be able to attend a course you have enrolled on, because of a change in your work schedule. Write to the course tutor, Ms Adhikari, whom you have met twice.
In your letter:
explain why you cannot attend
ask whether you can transfer to a later course
ask what happens to the fee you have already paid
Begin Dear Ms Adhikari. Write at least 150 words.
Version A — semi-formal
Target: 150+ words
Words: 0Not saved yet
10:00
Version A — 10 min
Version B — informal
Now write to a friend who enrolled on the same course with you, telling them the same news.
In your letter:
tell them you have had to drop out, and why
say what you are hoping to do instead
suggest meeting up soon
Begin Dear [name] or Hi [name]. Write at least 150 words. Contractions and phrasal verbs are expected here.
Version B — informal
Target: 150+ words
Words: 0Not saved yet
10:00
Version B — 10 min
When you have written both
Put them side by side and count: how many whole sentences are identical between the two? If the answer is more than one or two, you have changed the greeting and left the body alone — and that is exactly the drift we spent the first fifteen minutes on. Register lives in the sentences, not the salutation.
Language bank
Tap a phrase to reveal how and when to use it.
Semi-formal, slightly tentative request. Very useful when you are asking for a favour rather than claiming a right.
Semi-formal softener. Shows awareness of the reader — examiners like it.
Formal apology. Note the plural apologies.
Informal invitation (British). Do you fancy coming over on Saturday?
Informal. The contraction is doing work here — It would be great sounds oddly stiff in a letter to a friend.
Informal explanation opener, introducing a complication.
to disappoint someone by not doing what you promised. Informal/semi-formal.
with very little warning. I'm sorry to tell you at such short notice.
Wrap-up
Wrap-Up & Homework
One idea, from two directions: a letter to a company written casually and a letter to a friend written formally are the same mistake. Register is a match to the recipient, not a level of politeness you climb.
Tonight: an informal letter, and a specific instruction to use contractions.