You finish an essay, read it again, and everything seems grammatically correct. Then your instructor leaves a comment beside one paragraph: “Too informal.”
What exactly does that mean?
Academic writing does not require you to sound like a nineteenth-century professor. However, university essays generally use language that is more formal, precise, objective, and evidence-based than everyday conversation.
Purdue OWL explains that an appropriate level of formality depends on the purpose and audience of the writing, with academic essays normally requiring a formal style.
Learning how to avoid informal language in academic essays therefore means recognizing conversational habits that naturally appear in everyday English and replacing them when they reduce precision or professionalism.
Common problems include slang, contractions, vague expressions, casual phrasal verbs, second-person pronouns, exaggerated claims, and unnecessary emotional language.
The goal is not to make every sentence complicated. In fact, strong academic writing is often surprisingly simple.
Here is how to make your essays sound appropriately formal while keeping them natural and readable.
Understand Why Academic Language Is More Formal
Academic writing communicates ideas within an educational or scholarly setting. Readers usually expect arguments to be clear, supported, and presented without unnecessary conversational language.
Monash University identifies academic language as generally formal, objective, and often impersonal. It also notes that conventions vary between disciplines and individual assignments.
That last point is important.
Not every informal-looking feature is automatically wrong. Reflective assignments may allow first-person pronouns, while certain humanities disciplines may permit a more personal voice than scientific reports.
The goal is therefore not to memorize a list of forbidden words.
Instead, ask whether your language is appropriate for your audience, assignment, and discipline.
Compare:
Informal:
“There are tons of reasons why people don’t like this policy.”
More academic:
“Several factors may explain public opposition to this policy.”
The second version is shorter, more precise, and easier to support with evidence.
Remove Slang and Colloquial Expressions
Slang belongs naturally in conversations, social media posts, and informal messages. Academic essays usually require something different.
Expressions such as kids these days, a big deal, totally messed up, pretty awesome, or tons of problems can make an academic argument sound conversational.
George Mason University’s Writing Center notes that academic writing is generally expected to be formal, concise, precise, and neutral. It identifies various conversational features that can increase informality.
Consider:
Informal:
“A lot of teenagers are glued to their phones.”
Academic:
“Many adolescents spend substantial amounts of time using smartphones.”
Notice that the revised version does not simply replace words with more impressive vocabulary.
It becomes more specific.
Avoid idioms as well. Phrases such as the tip of the iceberg, easier said than done, or at the end of the day may sound natural in speech, but their meaning can be less precise in academic contexts.
Avoid Contractions in Formal Essays
Contractions combine words in ways commonly used in spoken and informal English.
Examples include:
don’t → do not
can’t → cannot
isn’t → is not
they’ve → they have
it’s → it is
Monash University recommends using full forms rather than contractions when writing in a formal academic register.
For example:
Informal:
“Researchers don’t know exactly why this happens.”
Academic:
“Researchers do not know exactly why this occurs.”
This is one of the easiest academic style problems to fix because contractions are simple to find during proofreading.
Use your document’s search function for apostrophes and check every occurence. Some apostrophes will indicate possession rather than contractions, so do not remove them automatically.
Also remember that different genres have different conventions. A personal reflection may be more flexible than a research paper.
Replace Vague Words With Precise Language
Informal writing often relies on broad words because conversation provides context.
Academic readers need greater precision.
Words such as things, stuff, good, bad, big, nice, and a lot can leave important questions unanswered.
Consider:
“Climate change causes a lot of bad things.”
What things?
A clearer sentence might be:
“Climate change can increase the frequency or severity of certain environmental risks, including extreme heat and coastal flooding.”
Now readers know exactly what the writer means.
Monash University recommends clear, concise, and precise vocabulary in academic writing while warning against choosing complicated words merely to sound more scholarly.
Precision matters more than complexity.
If use communicates your meaning perfectly, you do not automatically need utilize. If help works, replacing it with facilitate may add nothing.
Formal writing becomes stronger when vocabulary is accurate, not when every word comes from a thesaurus.
Be Careful With Casual Phrasal Verbs
Phrasal verbs combine verbs with particles such as up, out, off, or into. They are extremely common in everyday English.
Examples include find out, look into, bring up, put off, and come up with.
These expressions are not grammatically incorrect. However, some can sound conversational or become ambiguous in formal essays.
Monash University’s guidance specifically identifies colloquialisms, idioms, slang, and certain phrasal verbs as features writers may need to replace with more formal alternatives.
For example:
Informal:
“The researchers looked into the problem.”
More formal:
“The researchers investigated the problem.”
Another example:
Informal:
“The study found out that sleep affected performance.”
More formal:
“The study found that sleep affected performance.”
Do not mechanically eliminate every phrasal verb. Some are perfectly clear and widely accepted.
Replace them when a more precise single verb improves the sentence.
Limit Direct References to the Reader
Conversational writing often addresses the reader directly:
“If you look at the results, you can see a clear difference.”
Second-person pronouns such as you can make the sentence sound like a conversation between the writer and reader.
A more academic alternative might be:
“The results demonstrate a clear difference between the two groups.”
This version also improves efficiency because the sentence focuses directly on the evidence.
Monash notes that academic language is often impersonal and may avoid I, you, and we, although expectations differ by discipline and assignment type.
First person requires more nuance.
Writing “I believe” is often unnecessary:
“I believe social inequality influences educational opportunities.”
Removing it creates:
“Social inequality can influence educational opportunities.”
However, first person can be completely appropriate in reflective writing and may also be accepted in some research contexts.
Always follow the conventions of your course rather than treating personal pronouns as universally prohibited.
Remove Emotional and Exaggerated Language
Academic arguments should normally rely on evidence rather than emotional intensity.
Consider:
“This absolutely terrible policy has obviously created a huge disaster for students.”
The sentence certainly communicates emotion, but it does not explain the actual problem.
A stronger version might be:
“The policy has increased financial pressure on some students, particularly those from lower-income households.”
Now the criticism is specific and potentially measurable.
Avoid unsupported intensifiers such as obviously, clearly, definitely, completely, and everyone knows.
Words such as amazing, horrible, ridiculous, and shocking may also require revision unless the context genuinely demands evaluative language.
Academic writing does not need to eliminate judgement entirely. Critical analysis often involves evaluation.
The difference is that evaluation should be explained.
Do not simply call a method ineffective. Explain which evidence suggests it is ineffective and under what conditions.
Use Cautious Language for Academic Claims
Casual writing often makes absolute statements.
Academic research is usually more complicated.
Consider:
“Social media causes depression.”
That statement establishes direct causation and applies it broadly.
Depending on the available evidence, a more responsible version may be:
“High levels of social media use have been associated with poorer mental health outcomes in some populations.”
Academic writers commonly use qualifying language such as may, might, suggests, indicates, appears, and is associated with to control the strength of their claims.
This practice is sometimes called hedging.
It does not mean being uncertain about everything. It means matching the strength of the language to the strength of the evidence.
Phrases such as “The results indicate that…” or “Previous research suggests…” can also help introduce evidence naturally.
Monash provides an academic phrasebank specifically designed to help students express relationships, findings, evidence, and conclusions in appropriate academic language.
Do Not Replace Informal Writing With Unnecessarily Difficult Writing
One of the biggest traps is overcorrecting.
Students learn that casual language should be avoided and suddenly every sentence becomes enormous.
For example:
“Students need help.”
might become:
“Learners necessitate the facilitation of multifaceted pedagogical assistance mechanisms.”
That is not better academic writing.
It is simply harder to understand.
The University of Melbourne advises students to keep academic sentences as clear and easy to understand as possible even when discussing complex ideas. Its editing guidance also recommends full forms rather than contractions and an appropriately objective style.
Similarly, Monash explicitly advises writers not to use overly complex vocabulary simply to sound academic.
A better revision would simply be:
“Students may require additional academic support.”
Formal writing should sound professional, not artificial.
Edit Informal Language After Finishing Your Draft
Trying to monitor every informal expression while drafting can interrupt your thinking.
A better strategy is to separate drafting from editing.
Write your ideas first. Then complete one editing pass specifically for academic language.
Search for contractions, you, vague words, casual phrases, emotional adjectives, exaggerated claims, and unnecessary rhetorical questions.
Then read each sentence and ask:
Could this idea be stated more precisely?
For example:
“Lots of people think this is a really big problem.”
might become:
“Public concern about the issue has increased substantially.”
However, the revised claim may now require evidence. This highlights an important relationship between style and research: more precise academic statements often force writers to think more carefully about what they can actually prove.
Clear writing also improves comprehension. Monash emphasizes that academic ideas should be expressed explicitly through clear sentences, paragraphs, and signposting so readers can follow the writer’s intended meaning.
Editing therefore involves more than replacing individual words. It means checking whether your entire sentence communicates the intended idea clearly.
Learn Formal Language by Reading Academic Sources
Academic style becomes easier when you regularly see it used well.
Pay attention to journal articles, textbooks, university resources, and other scholarly writing in your field.
Notice how authors introduce evidence:
“The findings suggest…”
Observe how they compare ideas:
“In contrast to previous research…”
Look at how they express limitations:
“These results should be interpreted with caution…”
You do not need to copy complete sentences. Instead, identify useful patterns and vocabulary.
Different disciplines also develop their own preferred terminology and conventions. A biology paper may sound very different from a history essay, even though both are academic.
Reading material from your specific field therefore helps you develop language that sounds natural within that discipline rather than generically “formal.”
Over time, these patterns become familiar enough that you begin using them without consciously translating every informal sentence.
Learning how to avoid informal language in academic essays does not mean removing personality or filling your paragraphs with complicated vocabulary.
The main goal is to make your ideas precise, professional, evidence-based, and appropriate for an academic audience.
Watch for slang, contractions, vague wording, casual phrasal verbs, direct reader references, emotional expressions, and unsupported absolute claims. Replace them only when the alternative makes your meaning clearer or more accurate.
Most importantly, remember that formal writing should still be readable. Simple words and direct sentences are often stronger than unnecessarily sophisticated language.
Before submitting your next essay, complete one final editing pass focused only on tone.
Highlight every sentence that sounds like something you would casually say to a friend, then decide whether it needs revision. That small habit can make a surprisingly large differnce.
