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Formal vs. Informal Writing Guide

This document defines and compares formal and informal writing styles. Formal writing uses complex sentences, an objective tone without personal pronouns, and full words without contractions. Examples of formal writing include research papers and professional documents. Informal writing favors short, simple sentences and uses colloquial language, contractions, and shows empathy. Examples of informal writing are journals, notes, and summaries. The document advises using a formal style for professional purposes and informal style for personal communications, while noting that the appropriate style depends on the purpose and audience.

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Usama Âlvî
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1K views10 pages

Formal vs. Informal Writing Guide

This document defines and compares formal and informal writing styles. Formal writing uses complex sentences, an objective tone without personal pronouns, and full words without contractions. Examples of formal writing include research papers and professional documents. Informal writing favors short, simple sentences and uses colloquial language, contractions, and shows empathy. Examples of informal writing are journals, notes, and summaries. The document advises using a formal style for professional purposes and informal style for personal communications, while noting that the appropriate style depends on the purpose and audience.

Uploaded by

Usama Âlvî
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
  • Introduction to Writing Styles: Introduction page listing authors and topic of formal and informal writing comparison.
  • Formal Writing: Explores the characteristics and purposes of formal writing, emphasizing structured and precise language.
  • Informal Writing: Describes informal writing's more relaxed style and tone suitable for personal or less formal contexts.
  • When to Use Formal and Informal Writing: Guidelines on choosing between formal and informal writing based on audience and purpose.

Formal And Informal

Writing

Presented by:
Hamza Afzal
Bilal Qureshi
Osama Alvi
Saif-ur-Rehman

Defining Formal Writing

Formal Writing/Learning to Write: Writing for the main purpose of having


the student present content from the discipline in a style and form that
practitioners could readily recognize and accept.

Formal writing favors longer, more detailed sentences to thoroughly convey a


thought.

Formal writing uses conservative punctuation (e.g., periods, commas, etc.)

Formal Writing Style

Complex Longer sentences are likely to be more prevalent in formal writing.


You need to be as thorough as possible with your approach to each topic when
you are using a formal style. Each main point needs to be introduced,
elaborated and concluded.
Objective State main points confidently and offer full support arguments. A
formal writing style shows a limited range of emotions and avoids emotive
punctuation such as exclamation points, ellipsis, etc., unless they are being
cited from another source.
Full Words No contractions should be used to simplify words (in other words
use "It is" rather than "It's"). Abbreviations must be spelt out in full when
first used, the only exceptions being when the acronym is better known than
the full name (BBC, ITV or NATO for example).

Third Person Formal writing is not a personal writing style. The


formal writer is disconnected from the topic and does not use the
first person point of view (I or we) or second person (you).

Examples of Formal Writing

scholarly papers: research reports, review articles, critical essays

professional writing: reports; proposals; memos; essays, articles, and


instructions for a lay audience; letters to the editor; editorials; brochures;
critiques & reviews

academic papers: term papers, seminar papers, essay exams

Defining Informal Writing

Informal Writing/Writing to Learn: Writing for the main purpose of finding


out if students understand material, have completed reading, or done assigned
work.

Informal writing favors short, simple sentences.

Informal writing is generous with abrupt and dramatic punctuation (e.g.,


exclamation marks, the ellipses, the dash, etc.).

Informal Writing Style


Colloquial Informal writing is similar to a spoken conversation. Informal writing
may include figures of speech, broken syntax, asides and so on. Informal writing
takes a personal tone as if you were speaking directly to your audience (the reader).
You can use the first or third person point of view (I and we), and you are likely to
address the reader using second person (you and your).

Simple Short sentences are acceptable and sometimes essential to making a point
in informal writing. There may be incomplete sentences or ellipsis() to make points.

Contractions and Abbreviations Words are likely to be simplified using


contractions (for example, Im, doesnt, couldnt, its) and abbreviations (e.g. TV,
photos) whenever possible.

Empathy and Emotion The author can show empathy towards the reader regarding
the complexity of a thought and help them through that complexity.

Examples of Informal Writing

Journal

Book-Article Report

Glossary

Note-taking

Process Reflection

Summaries

Timed Short Response

Web Site Review

When to Use Formal and Informal Writing

A formal writing style is not necessarily better than an informal style,


rather each style serves a different purpose and care should be taken in
choosing which style to use in each case.

Writing for professional purposes is likely to require the formal style,


although individual communications can use the informal style once you are
familiar with the recipient.

Note that emails tend to lend themselves to a less formal style than paperbased communications, but you should still avoid the use of "text talk".

If in doubt as to how formal your writing should be, it is usually better to err
on the side of caution and be formal rather than informal.

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