News reports, business letters, and academic papers. They all have something in common—they use a formal writing style. But what makes it different from informal writing? And how do you know when you’re doing it right? You’ll find the answers to these questions and more in this article.
What Is Formal Writing?
At its core, formal writing strictly adheres to standard English grammar rules, free from contractions, clichés, slang, and colloquial language.
Let’s say you have the sentence:
“The presentation was dope.”
The word “dope” is an informal way to say something is good or great. In formal writing, you replace “dope” with formal words like excellent or remarkable.
Aside from word choice, the tone, point of view, sentence structure, and voice (more on these below!) are also critical in formal writing.
So, when should you use formal writing? As we mentioned in the introduction, formal writing is best suited for business, legal, or academic writing.
What Are the Characteristics of Formal Writing?
Formal writing differs from informal writing in a few important ways. Let’s examine some actual examples and dissect the key elements of formal writing.
Vocabulary Choice
When you’re using formal writing, you’ll need precise, specific words to convey ideas clearly. And, yes, that means skipping colloquial language.
Example:
- Informal: I think the new policy is kind of confusing and doesn’t really help people.
- Formal: The new policy appears ambiguous and fails to provide meaningful assistance to the public.
What was changed? Well, there are a couple. Let’s take a closer look:
- “I think” was completely removed because, in formal writing, you should be objective.
- “kind of confusing” was replaced with “ambiguous.” The single-word change is shorter and more direct to the point.
- “doesn’t really help people” was changed because of its informal intensifier (really), “help” is too generalized, and “people” is too casual.
So, how do you find out which words to replace? Here’s a ChatGPT prompt to get you started:
Role: You are an expert editor specializing in academic and professional writing.
Goal: Transform the provided text into a formal, polished version suitable for scholarly or professional contexts, while preserving nuance and subtle meaning.
Task: Identify informal, vague, or imprecise language and replace it with clear, precise, and formal alternatives. Maintain the original intent and emphasis. Prioritize clarity and conciseness over unnecessary complexity.
Required Output:
1. Revised Text – fully formalized and polished.
2. Key Changes Table – Original and Formal Replacement (including a brief note on why the change was made).
Text: [Insert Text]Minimal First-Person and Second-Person Pronouns
Now, when talking about pronouns, formal writing favors the third-person point of view over the first-person and second-person. Why? So that you can separate yourself from your writing, remember that formal writing is about being objective.
- Informal (2nd person point of view): You can see that if you don’t study, you’ll probably fail the test, and I think that’s pretty obvious.
- Formal (3rd person point of view): Students who do not adequately prepare are likely to perform poorly on examinations.
How do you change from first-person or second-person to third-person point of view? Highlight all sentences with personal pronouns, and rewrite them in passive voice.
Alternatively, you can use this simple 1st Person to 3rd person AI prompt:
Role: You are an expert editor specializing in academic and professional writing.
Goal: Transform the provided text into a formal, polished version suitable for scholarly or professional contexts, while preserving nuance and subtle meaning.
Task: Identify sentences written in 1st person or 2nd person point of view, and rewrite them to third person. Maintain the original intent and emphasis. Prioritize clarity and conciseness over unnecessary complexity.
Required Output:
1. Revised Text – fully formalized and polished.
2. Key Changes Table – Original and Formal Replacement (including a brief note on why the change was made).
Text: [Insert Text]Longer and More Complex Sentence Structure
Longer and more complex sentences are common in formal writing because the writing style aims for precision and objectivity, especially in expressing complex ideas.
Here’s an example:
- Informal: We mixed the chemicals, and the color changed instantly. I didn’t expect that! It looked really bright, and honestly, it was kind of exciting.
- Formal: When the chemicals were combined under controlled laboratory conditions, an immediate color change was observed, suggesting a rapid chemical reaction and providing insight into the interaction of the compounds involved.
As you can see, the formal version is more detailed. It explained:
- Where the chemicals were combined (under controlled laboratory conditions)
- What the color change meant (rapid chemical reaction and interaction of the compounds).
In the informal version, you were only given information about mixing the chemicals and the color reaction, not the scientific implications of the reaction.
So, how do you make your sentences more appropriate for formal writing? Look for consecutive short sentences that discuss the same idea. Then check whether they can be combined using conjunctions such as ‘although‘, ‘while‘, or ‘because‘.
Tip: Watch out for run-on sentences.
No Contractions and Spell Out Abbreviations First
Another key characteristic of formal writing is the absence of contractions (like don’t and can’t). As for abbreviations (shortened versions of words), you should spell them out first, and then have their abbreviated form inside a parenthesis. If you are going to mention the term again, use the abbreviated form.
- Informal: The participants didn’t finish the survey on time.
- Formal: The participants did not complete the survey on time.
Here’s a contraction remover prompt that you could use:
Role: You are an expert editor specializing in academic and professional writing.
Goal: Systematically audit the provided text to resolve informal mechanics while preserving the author's exact voice and sentence structure.
Task:
1. Expand Contractions: Replace all informal contractions (e.g., "don't," "it's") with their full forms ("do not," "it is").
2. Standardize Abbreviations: Ensure every abbreviation or acronym is introduced correctly. On the first mention, write the full term followed by the abbreviation in parentheses—e.g., National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Use only the abbreviation for all subsequent mentions.
Constraint:
1. Do not rewrite sentences or substitute vocabulary unless it is necessary to accommodate the expanded words. Maintain the original intent and emphasis.
Required Output:
1. Revised Text – The text with corrected contractions and abbreviations.
2. Key Changes Table – A table with columns for: Original, Formal Replacement, and Type of Change (Contraction or Abbreviation).
Text: [Insert Text]Tip: Abbreviation rules vary depending on the writing guide you are following. So always double-check!
No Colloquialisms, Slang, or Idioms
Colloquialisms, slang, and idioms are generally okay to have in informal writing. But formal writing? You should avoid them at all costs because they are overly casual.
- Informal: The candidate really crushed it and knocked everyone’s socks off.
- Formal: The candidate demonstrated exceptional analytical skills throughout the evaluation.
Tip: In formal writing, a good rule of thumb is to prioritize clarity over personality.
Role: You are an expert editor specializing in academic and professional writing.
Task:
1. Analyze the provided text
2. Flag sentences with colloquialisms, slang, and idioms.
2. Suggest formal alternatives
Constraints:
1. Do not rewrite the flagged sentences.
Required Output:
1. Recommendations Table – Original sentence and Suggested Formal Replacement (including a brief note on the suggestion).
Text: [Insert Text]Objective and Facts-Based
Formal writing avoids personal feelings and opinions. You should also support statements with evidence, not emotions or assumptions.
- Informal: I think the new software made the team much faster.
- Formal: The data clearly indicate a 15% increase in efficiency after the implementation of the new software.
Use this prompt to identify sentences or paragraphs that are too subjective or opinionated:
Role: You are an expert editor specializing in academic and professional writing.
Task:
1. Analyze the provided text
2. Flag sentences that are not objective and require evidence/facts to support it.
Constraints:
1. Do not rewrite the flagged sentences.
Required Output:
1. Recommendations Table – Original sentence and Suggested evidence.
Text: [Insert Text]Free Informal to Formal Generator
You don’t have to sign up and pay for AI formal writing generators. Use this prompt below, and you can have your draft written in formal style. As always, double-check the rewritten text for grammatical errors, punctuation mistakes, and most especially if the information is accurate.
Role: You are an expert writing assistant specializing in formal writing for academic, business, and professional contexts.
Task:
1. Rewrite the provided informal text into a formal writing style.
2. Ensure correct grammar
3. Precise and specific vocabulary
4. Ensure an objective tone
5. Use third-person point of view
6. Appropriately complex sentence structure if possible.
7. Remove all contractions, slang, colloquialisms, and idioms.
8. Spell out abbreviations on first use, placing the abbreviated form in parentheses for subsequent mentions.
9. Flag sentences that are not objective and require supporting evidence.
Overall Goal: Transform informal text into polished, professional, and objective formal writing that is clear, concise, and suitable for academic, legal, or business contexts while preserving the original meaning.
Constraints:
- Avoid first-person and second-person pronouns.
- Maintain factual accuracy; do not add unsupported information.
- Do not create run-on sentences; combine ideas logically using conjunctions such as "although," "while," or "because."
- Spell out abbreviations at first mention, with the abbreviation in parentheses for later references.
- Preserve the meaning of the original text.
Required Output:
1. The rewritten text in formal style.
2. A table showing changes made and sentences for review. Include the following columns: | Informal Text | Formal Text | Change Type |
Informal Text is the original sentence or phrase from the input.
Formal Text is the corresponding rewritten formal version.
Change Made is the type of change made (ex. vocabulary, pronoun, tone, etc.)
Informal text:
[Insert your informal text here]Final Thoughts
And there you have it! Hopefully, you now know what makes formal writing different from informal writing. And yes, it will take time and practice to become more proficient in this writing style, but once you have mastered it, you can breeze through your next assignment.