Introduction Individuals use English in their everyday life while communicating with their relatives, sharing news with friends and acquaintances, and establishing strong professional relationships. At the same time, every person who lives in contemporary society uses English as a tool for written correspondence. College and university students write articles and research papers, international friends communicate in private chats, and businesses create official documents. Since the language used in these writings is the same, it may seem that there is no difference between writing a birthday invitation letter and a scholarship essay. Nevertheless, each type of text requires specific vocabulary and formatting. The following paper will discuss formal and informal styles in order to understand their distinguishing features and differences. Main body Formal writing is generally used for business and academic operations. This type of written communication should be clear, organized, and properly formatted. It is complex and incorporates long sentences to ensure that the main idea is delivered and explained carefully. Moreover, formal writing is objective, meaning that an individual is disconnected from the context and does not include personal experiences and emotions in the text. One of the most prominent examples of the formal style is a research paper. This work focuses on a particular topic and aims at discovering some new ideas connected to it. While writing a research essay, students and experts use various academic sources in order to find and compare different perspectives on the same concept. Researchers incorporate specific formats, such as APA, MLA, Chicago, or Harvard, and divide their papers into organized parts to make them look and sound professional. Furthermore, these essays are written in a third-person language to provide the most unbiased view of the problem. On the other hand, informal writing is similar to spoken communication and is used in personal settings. This style does not require a writer to be organized and objective; it allows full freedom of expression. It uses slang, “I” language, and high emotion words to indicate personal feelings and experiences. In comparison to formal writing, it is acceptable to include short and incomplete sentences in informal letters or messages. Simplicity can even be essential since it gives an opportunity to express an opinion quickly and clearly. A prime example of informal writing is a diary entry. There are no specific rules about the formatting of diaries; therefore, individuals have a chance to style them in any possible way. They can write about their emotions and problems while using abbreviations, contractions, and active voice. Diary entries are personal, which means that they do not have to include objective opinions and thoughts. Instead, they can be based on individual perceptions and judgments. Conclusion To summarize, language is the most critical tool for successful communication. People all over the world constantly use English in their personal, academic, and business interactions. While spoken communication is an essential way of delivering messages and viewpoints, writing can also do it effectively. However, individuals should not forget that different types of correspondence require distinct formatting and wording styles. Official emails and