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Language, when you need it
Search concise C2 rules, vocabulary and speaking phrases without leaving the course to hunt through past lessons.
What it is
The three dials are formality, distance, and technicality — three separate settings you can turn up or down independently to control how a piece of writing or speech sounds.
Form
| Form | Pattern | Model sentence |
|---|---|---|
| Formality | casual vocabulary ↔ formal vocabulary | Can't make it → I regret that I'm unable to attend. |
| Distance | personal 'I/you' ↔ impersonal 'one/it is' | I think you're wrong → It could be argued that this is mistaken. |
| Technicality | plain terms ↔ specialist terms | The graph goes up → the trend shows a positive correlation. |
| Combined setting | adjust all three to match audience | It is estimated that the figures reflect a modest uptick. |
Use it when
- You're switching between writing to a friend and writing to a client
- You need to sound authoritative in a report without sounding cold
- You're simplifying a technical topic for a general audience
- You want to create emotional closeness or professional distance on purpose
Examples
- You can keep formality high while keeping distance low, e.g. 'We would be delighted to welcome you.'
- A doctor might raise technicality with a colleague and lower it for a patient.
- Turning up distance in a complaint letter makes it read as more objective.
- Turning down formality in a toast makes it feel more personal.
- News reports often keep distance high and technicality low so anyone can follow them.
Watch out
✗ Assuming formal always means distant.
✓ Recognise you can be formal and warm at once, e.g. 'We would love to have you join us.'
The three dials move independently — they're not the same setting.
✗ Using heavy jargon to sound formal in a general audience piece.
✓ Keep technicality low even while formality stays high.
High technicality confuses readers rather than impressing them.
✗ Writing an entire email in one dial setting without adjusting for the reader.
✓ Check who's reading and adjust each dial to suit them.
The dials should respond to audience, not habit.
Remember
Formal, distant, and technical are three different knobs — don't turn them all up by default.
Quick check
- 1. Which dial changes when you swap 'I believe' for 'it is believed'?
Reveal
Distance
- 2. Can a text be formal and non-technical at the same time?
Reveal
Yes — formality and technicality are independent dials.
- 3. Lower the technicality: 'The data indicates a statistically significant decline.'
Reveal
The figures show a clear drop.