If you’re a student, you’ve heard about a formal essay: a factual, research-based paper written in 3rd person. Most students have to produce dozens of them during their educational career. 
Writing a formal essay may not be the easiest task. But fear not: our custom-writing team is here to guide you through the process. This article will:
- explain what a formal essay is;
- show how to write it step by step;
- provide you with an essay sample. 
đź‘” Formal Essay Definition
A formal essay is a well-structured piece of writing with a clear introduction, body, and conclusion. This type of essay often includes cited research, uses an academic tone, and is written in 3rd person. While writing a formal essay, it’s necessary to back up your arguments with factual evidence.
What Is an Informal Essay vs. Formal Essay?
Essays come in two formats: formal and informal (also known as personal.) They differ in terms of style and context. You can choose one of the formats depending on the situation and the type of paper you need to write.
Don’t know how to tell the difference between them? Well, here are some key characteristics of these essay types:
As you can see, these types of writing are almost total opposites. Informal essays are only reserved for creative assignments, which means that most of the papers you write need to be formal.
Our article on creative essays can help you write an informal paper. But how do you craft a perfect formal essay? Keep reading to find out.
âś… How to Write a Formal Essay
Traditionally, a formal essay it’s composed of 3 sections: an introduction, 3 or more body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Let’s examine each part in detail.
Formal Essay Introduction
The introduction is what your essay starts with. Its primary goal is to catch the reader’s attention with a hook, briefly introduce the topic, and lead toward the thesis statement located at the end of the first paragraph.
Here is what you might want to keep in mind while writing the introduction:
If you want some more inspiration for your introduction, check out our article on hooks in writing.
Now on to the thesis statement: the key idea of your essay. When working on it, keep in mind that it should answer the central question in your topic and reflect your essay’s overall structure. your essay’s overall structure.
Suppose your topic is related to the teaching methods involving poetry. In that case, the thesis statement can be like this:
Example:
Teaching methods that involve reading and writing poetry in elementary school are beneficial for children as they enhance their capacity for empathy, develop creativity, and help with self-realization.
Formal Essay Body
The next part of an essay is the main body paragraphs. They support the thesis statement with well-developed arguments and explore the topic in-depth. Each body paragraph starts with a topic sentence stating its main point. The length of a paragraph can vary, but the best option is to have between 4 and 7 sentences.
To make the text flow easily, you may use transitional words. Here are some examples:
- after all, 
- for instance, 
- on the one/other hand, 
- initially, 
- as a result.
How to Write a Formal Essay Conclusion
Lastly, every essay needs closure. A good conclusion summarizes the essay’s main ideas, includes a paraphrased thesis, and encourages the readers to think more about the topic.
The structure of a conclusion may change slightly depending on the subject. For instance, it can suggest some solutions to a problem, express an opinion, or give a recommendation. It’s important to remember that the conclusion is a part that emphasizes your essay’s most important points and doesn’t introduce new information.
If you’re curious about writing each essay part, check out our article on 5-paragraph essays.
✍️ Formal Writing Rules
Just like choosing the proper attire to wear to a formal event, we need to use the right words while writing a formal essay. Here are some suggestions that can help you maintain a formal tone in your paper:  
Dos of formal writing
- Pay attention to your vocabulary. The words you will use in a formal essay will likely have a nuanced meaning. Make sure you know exactly what the terms mean, and do your best to sound precise.
- Use punctuation correctly. Here are some of the things to watch out for:Â Avoid exclamation marks;Â Use dashes for insertions;Â Use colons with enumerations;Â If you’re unsure of whether to use a punctuation mark or not, rewrite the sentence in a way that doesn’t require it.
- Use varied sentence structure. In formal writing, there is always a danger of sounding monotonous. Avoid repeating sentence structures to make your essay more readable.
- Provide references. It’s essential to cite every idea that you borrow. Try to paraphrase quotations from your sources: it will help you avoid plagiarism.
Don’ts of formal writing
- Avoid using pronouns. With words such as “I,” “me,” “we,” or “us,” an essay becomes wordy. It also makes the author seem less sure of their ideas. If you want to use personal pronouns, try substituting them with words like “the reader,” “viewers,” or “one.”
- Avoid using slang expressions and nonstandard diction. Slang words in a formal essay will make it less appealing to the readers. If you want to be taken seriously, it’s best to avoid those expressions and use proper Standard English.
- Avoid informal tone. When you write a formal essay, incorporate the language and the expressions you would use while delivering a speech, not the words you use when you casually talk to friends. A formal tone suggests that the author is serious about the topic and respects the audience.
- Avoid passive voice. Passive verbs are hard to read, and they are wordy. Use active voice to sound more straightforward and concise.
Contractions in Formal Writing
A contraction is usually a combination of two words into one, such as “don’t,” “isn’t,” “can’t,” and “wouldn’t.” When you work on a formal essay, it’s essential to be careful about contractions. It’s inappropriate to use them in academic writing, so it’s best to stick to the full variant.
However, there are exceptions to this rule. For instance, when working with direct quotations, it’s essential to reproduce words exactly as they are used in the original. To learn more about it, be sure to check out the University of North Florida’s article on in-text citations.
What to Use Instead of “You” in an Essay
Another common mistake students make is using the “you” and “yours” pronouns to address the readers. This mistake can make the essay overly informal and lead to misinterpretations of the text.
How do you fix it? Our advice is to replace 2nd-person pronouns with the following words:
- readers,
- viewers,
- one,
- people,
- individuals,
- person,
- anybody,
- someone.
You can find more formal writing tips in this informative video from Smrt English:
🖥️ Formal Essay Format
Now that we’ve discussed formal essay writing in detail, it’s time to look at the formatting. A formal essay is usually written in MLA or APA formats. If you’re asked to write a paper in one of these formats, you may find the guidelines below helpful:
đź“‘ Formal Essay Example
Here is an excellent sample of a formal essay that uses all the guidelines mentioned in this article. It will help you to produce a perfect paper of your own:
Example:
For more information, check out Purdue OWL’s resources on various formatting styles.
Formal Essay Topics
- The effects of coffeeÂ
- Negative effects of technology on childrenÂ
- Causes and outcomes of organizational conflicts in sportsÂ
- Different types of friendsÂ
- Are early marriages harmful or beneficial?Â
- How do nutrition and hydration improve athletes’ performance?Â
- Is polygamy morally acceptable?Â
- Different features of sports businessÂ
- Positive and negative effects of tourism on environment in the CaribbeanÂ
- How does society treat single parents?Â
- How does the uninvolved parenting style affect child’s future well-being?Â
- The role of family relationships in OdysseyÂ
- Main features of a strong marriageÂ
- The importance of media coverage for sport teamsÂ
- Reasons why students choose to get internshipÂ
- The role of stadiums in the sports industryÂ
- Characteristics of children’s sportsÂ
- Crucial factors affecting health fitnessÂ
- How is technology used in hotel management?Â
- Structure and operational context of Four SeasonsÂ
- Different websites that promote rental propertiesÂ
- The imperative aspects of tourismÂ
- Importance of hotel trainingÂ
- What factors determine adolescents’ adjustment after they experience parental divorce?Â
- The importance of language and world view for communicationÂ
- What makes a combination of reinforcement and punishment in parenting efficient?Â
- The scientific approach of sports economicsÂ
- How does divorce affect children?Â
- How does the New Moves program promote a healthy lifestyle?Â
- How to be an effective counselorÂ
- Various types of restaurants in IrelandÂ
- Carolina Dog’s characteristicsÂ
- Comparing homosexual and heterosexual familiesÂ
- How is family presented in Everyday Use by Alice Walker?Â
- In what ways can Anaerobic Threshold be assessed?Â
- Is bad parenting a healthcare problem?Â
- Mind-body awareness and its health benefitsÂ
- Can punishment boost academic performance?Â
- Techniques to teach students swimmingÂ
- Issues faced by the sports licensing fieldÂ
Thanks for reading through this guide! We hope that you found it helpful and now have a better idea of how to write an excellent formal essay. Don’t hesitate to share our article with a friend who may need it. Good luck!
Further reading:
âť“ Formal Essay FAQs
It’s best not to use pronouns such as “I,” “my,” “we,” “our,” etc., in a formal essay since it give the paper an informal tone and the text becomes wordy. It also makes the writer seem less sure about their ideas.
It’s better to avoid using parentheses and dashes in formal academic writing. If the information you want to include in the essay is important enough, it should be a part of the sentence. Otherwise, you can simply omit it.
The formal and informal essays differ in style and context. While a formal essay is a piece of well-structured writing that tries to convince the reader by providing arguments, an informal essay has no set structure. It reflects the author’s personal thoughts or opinions.
Starting your sentence with “because” in formal writing is not the best idea. The word “because” is a subordinate conjunction, which means it’s used to join the main clause to a subordinate clause, not to start a sentence.
It’s best to avoid using 1st- and 2nd-person pronouns, slang expressions, nonstandard diction, and contractions in a formal essay. They are primarily used in daily speech and are considered inappropriate in academic writing. 
