A common issue writers face is knowing whether or not to use formal or informal writing within their assignment. With the opportunity to use either, and informal writing assignments becoming more popular within the classroom setting, professors are more inclined to try out new approaches and techniques to teach with, which in turn, may be why some writers struggle with knowing what type of tone and writing to use. Thankfully, there are a few tricks helpful for making the distinction between informal and formal writing.

Formal writing is distinct from informal. Unlike informal writing, formal is usually much more serious, often used in academic papers where you are retelling what you have learned. Informal, however, is much more relaxed than formal. Informal is often personal, like the language you use in a conversation. Despite these differences, however, it can still be difficult to know when to use either type of writing, and what phrases and words are considered formal and which ones informal.

When to Use Formal Writing

As a basic rule, unless told otherwise, you should always use a more formal tone when writing any academic paper that displays any knowledge you have learned within a course. Research papers, lab reports and analytical essays often require a formal tone. When discussing a literal meaning of something, such as a definition or an explanation of an event or any knowledge you may have, a formal tone should be used. Formal writing is also appropriate in any professional setting, such as when applying for jobs, or graduate school. Furthermore, when sending a professional email, such as to your professor or a boss, you should use a formal tone.

When to Use Informal Writing

Informal writing is used more often in assignments that involve your opinion. When talking, texting, and emailing to friends or acquaintances, it’s clearly acceptable to use an informal tone. However, informal writing can also be used in a classroom and professional setting in certain situations. If you are writing about a personal experience, or explicitly sharing your opinion through the use of “I” “Me” or “My”, informal writing is usually more accepted. Journals, summaries, and any notes you take are usually considered informal. Even personal statements, to an extent, on graduate school applications use a form of informal writing because you are writing about a personal moment specific to you, using phrases such as “I” “Me” and “My.” However, to be safe, you should always check with your professor or whoever assigned you an assignment before taking on an informal voice in your work; while informal writing is often accepted in personal pieces, some professionals may prefer you to keep in formal.

While certain instances typically call for a specific type of writing, such as writing to a superior in a workplace in a formal tone, or sending an informal text to a friend, the more appropriate type of writing to use isn’t always as clear. No longer are specific assignments designated to have a specific form of writing; essays written for a college course may seem like they will require a formal tone, but sometimes the assignment or prompt calls for just the opposite. Therefore, it can seem tricky to know what type of writing style you should take on so that your tone matches the setting. However, if you keep a few things in mind when writing, figuring out the right form of writing you should take on will become clearer.

Know Your Audience

One of the most important things to keep in mind when debating whether or not formal or informal language is more appropriate for a writing style is the audience you are writing for. By keeping your audience in mind, you will be better at deciding how you should “speak” to them. When your audience is your professor, or other scholarly writers, your writing and tone will likely take on a formal tone (though there’s always exceptions). When your audience is your friends in a relaxed setting, a more informal writing may be more appropriate. This task in itself may seem a little difficult, as your audience may not be explicitly stated, and students often are unsure if they should be writing to their professor (typically a formal audience that calls for formal writing), or if they should be writing to their classmates (perhaps a less formal tone or writing, since classmates are often friends or peers of the same education). But here is some helpful hints to make this process easier, so that you can decide:

• In what setting are you writing? Is this an essay? An email? Keeping this in mind helps begin narrowing down who you are writing for, and why.
• If in a school setting, is there an assignment? Does the assignment specify who your audience should be? It is always important to pay attention to your assignment for various reasons, but it’s especially important here as you might find the answer to the question you’re asking!
• What is the topic of your work? Are you researching tropical diseases in foreign countries? Or is the topic more personal? Perhaps asking you to write about your favorite memory at UNH? Keeping your topic in mind will help you focus in on if your audience is professionals with knowledge on tropical diseases, or if it’s a classroom of your peers.
• What’s your purpose? Why are you writing this? Are you doing so to display your knowledge in a certain field, or are you emailing for the purpose of asking someone a question?

What’s Formal and What’s Informal

Now that you know in which settings you can use a more informal writing style and which settings require a formal one, you may be confused on what’s considered formal and what isn’t.

Above is a chart to help clarify what type of writing is considered formal, and what type informal ^[1].

Contractions and personal pronouns are almost never used in formal writing. When writing an academic paper that requires a formal tone, you should avoid contractions and any personal pronouns. Instead, formal writing is often written from the third-person perspective, avoiding words such as “I” “You” and “We”.

Slang or colloquialisms should never be used in a formal piece. You always want to be clear about what you are discussing, and slang can often muddle up the knowledge you are trying to display in an academic paper ^[2]. Furthermore, any clichés or metaphorical phrases should also not be used in a formal piece. Instead, the writing should be clear, conscience, and to the point without the use of an overused phrase.

While it can be difficult at first to keep track of when it’s okay to discuss writing in an informal tone versus when a formal tone should be used, and even what makes writing formal versus informal, but overtime, it’s something that begins to come with ease. In the meantime, a helpful trick to keep in mind when making those tough decisions on deciding if something sounds too formal or informal is to think about what you would email to your professor; if the writing style you are using maybe isn’t something you’d want to send to your professor when writing a formal email, then chances are your writing is informal.

Exceptions to Everything

With all things in life, there are, of course, exceptions to these rules. When writing, there is a time and a place for informal and formal writing, and sometimes, that time involves using both. When something calls informal language, but in a formal setting, you may be tasked with finding a balance, and using both forms of writing. This may make it seem like the understanding of when to use which is more confusing than before, but have no fear, it sounds a lot worse than it really is. Remember, everything comes back to knowing your audience. By keeping in mind your audience, and understanding the difference between the two, you will be better equipped to know when to use informal language, when to use formal, or when to use both.