Writing a Reply When the Register Does Not Match the Reader
Your Tamil class must write a 120-word reply, in Tamil, to a school principal in Jaffna inviting your class to take part in a debate by video link. Constraints: the principal is older, the relationship is formal, and the reply must (a) accept, (b) ask for the debate topic and time, and (c) mention that your school has 22 students and one unreliable internet connection. You draft in a friendly peer register - using the singular informal 'you' and casual verb endings - because that is the Tamil you use with friends. Your teacher marks it down for register, not grammar.
1. Explain what specifically is wrong with the draft and rewrite the opening two sentences in an appropriate register.
Read the worked answer
The problem is register, not accuracy. Singular informal address and casual endings signal intimacy and equal status; used to an older principal in a first formal contact, they read as disrespectful or careless even though every word is grammatical. The fix is to switch to the polite plural address form and formal verb endings, add an honorific title, and keep sentences complete rather than clipped.
Model opening: 'Respected Principal, I am writing on behalf of our class to thank you for your kind invitation to join the debate by video link. We are glad to accept, and we would be grateful if you could tell us the debate topic and a suitable time.'
The content is unchanged; only the address forms, honorific, and verb endings move the text into the formal register the relationship requires. Note also that the internet limitation should be raised politely as a request for flexibility, not as a complaint.
2. The 22-student and weak-internet details must be included. Explain how to include them without sounding like an excuse, and why placement matters.
Read the worked answer
Place the practical details after the acceptance, not before it, so the letter's first move is commitment. Frame them as information the principal needs in order to plan, and pair each limitation with a proposed solution: 22 students means you can split into two speaking groups; one unreliable connection means you propose a backup phone hotspot and a five-minute test call the day before. This turns constraints into planning, which is what a formal reply should do. Placement matters because a limitation stated before acceptance reads as a reason to withdraw the acceptance; stated after, with a solution attached, it reads as responsible preparation. It also keeps the polite register intact, since a request for a test call is easier to make once goodwill is established.