IELTS General Writing: tone

One of the first things that the examiner will notice in your letter is its 'tone'. In other words, is your letter written in an appropriately formal or informal way, depending on the person you are addressing?

Task:
Compare the tone of the two letters in the document linked below. Make a list of the formal and informal features that you find. Click here to see the document.

Comments

[Kiranmai]

FORMAL:--

writing with regard to
due to catch a flight
look forward to receiving your response
yours faithfully

INFORMAL:--

just writing
As you know
well,
fancy a trip
great to see you
some sight-seeing together
keep in touch
all the best

[anmol]

i given general exam on 5th i wrote arond 220 words in task 2 coz of less time.how much bands thy gona deduct for that? pls help.

[Eda]

Hello Simon and everybody,
This is my first comment, ı just start to prepare myself to IELTS,
Thank you for this useful page :)

Formal

1.Writing with regard to
2.the attendant
3.great inconvenience
4.Compensate sb
5.fares
6.look forward to
7.Yours faithfully

Informal

1.writing to let you
2.As you know
3.well
4.They(instead of attendant)
5.prices are crazy
6.a quick ride
7.Keep in touch

[kiran]

Informal letter:

Beginning: Dear + first name
Friendly informs the reason behind your letter: I'm just writing to let you know that
Contractions: I'm, isn't,it's,we've....
Exclamation: ... Well, they gave me the position!, keep in touch!
Linking: Well, so, and
Phrases: to let you know, well, they gave me the position!, would have been impractical to travel down, prices are crazy, ever fancy,
Ending: All the best + first name

Formal letter:
Beginning: Dear Sir or Madam
No greeting necessary
No contractions: I am, I had
No exclamation marks (!)
Linking: As a result, that, where, unfortunately, as well as
Phrases and vocabulary: with regard to, due to a mistake, as a result of the error, not allowed to board, as the mistake was caused by, i hope that you will compensate me, to and from the airport
Ending: I look forward to receiving your response, Yours faithfully + full name

I found the same comparison method from the early post from the Mr Simon post.

[sjm]

I'll also add that tone also covers the general 'sound' of the letter. One example of this is 'strong v soft'. If you are writing a letter of complaint, for example, the tone needs to be quite strong. Writers from the subcontinent often tend to write these letters in an 'overpolite' tone, which is considered incorrect in this situation.

[Simon]

Good point sjm.