英文寫作經常採用正式文體。英文有多種不同的正式文體，所以文法和字彙的選擇至關重要。正式文體通常少用人稱代名詞，但多用名詞片語和被動態。文體越正式，越不帶感情、越去人稱化！
少用人稱代名詞
人稱代名詞被 it 或 there 的非人稱結構所取代。例如：
- 一般文體：I suggest that you apologize to your teacher for coming to school late. (我建議你應該為上學遲到向老師致歉)
正式文體：It is suggested that you make an apology to your teacher for coming to school late. (建議你應該為上學遲到向老師致歉) － 這句也使用名詞片語。 - 一般文體：We would like to donate a large number of books to the library. (我們想把大量的書捐贈給圖書館)
正式文體：There are a large number of books to donate to the library. (有大量的書要捐贈給圖書館)
名詞片語
在不帶感情、去人稱化的正式文體中，我們經常使用名詞片語而不用動詞片語。這種動詞 (或形容詞) 的名詞化，英文叫做 nominalization。名詞化在本部落格即將推出的「名詞」文法教學中會有更詳細的說明。例如：
- 一般文體：The plan was implemented successfully and this brought immense profit to the company. (該計畫已成功地執行，而這帶給這家公司巨大的利潤)
正式文體：The successful implementation of the plan brought immense profit to the company. (該計畫之成功執行帶給這家公司巨大的利潤) - 一般文體：He is due to retire as chief executive officer in January next year. (他預計明年一月從執行長職位退下來)
正式文體：His retirement as chief executive officer is due to be in January next year.
被動態
被動態在不帶感情、去人稱化的正式文體中很常用，尤其是在學術寫作中。被動態讓寫作者得以專注於文章寫作的過程，而非專注在主詞 (人) 的動作上。例如：
- 一般文體：In this thesis I explore and analyze the translation strategies of neologisms in the English-to-Chinese news translation. (在本論文中，我探討和分析英翻中新聞翻譯之新字新詞的翻譯策略)
正式文體：In this thesis the translation strategies of neologisms in the English-to-Chinese news translation are explored and analyzed.