How to format your essay

**Erin** · 09-23-2002, 10:26 PM

How to Format Your Essay

One of the most common problems we see with essays posted here is improper FORMATTING.

I have therefore put together this list of formatting tips for you to follow BEFORE you submit your essay to this forum for others to read and comment on.

Remember, the real TOEFL essay scorer reads hundreds of essays every week and really, really appreciates nice formatting.

Essays submitted here that do NOT follow these formatting rules will receive lower scores (if somebody offers a score) and will incur the disdain of fellow forum members.

Yes, believe it or not, punctuation IS very, very important in English. There’s a lot more for me to say, so you should check this topic regularly for updates.

The Most Important TOEFL Essay Formatting Rules

This list was compiled by Erin Billy with the help of all the visitors to the TestMagic forums.

1. Hit "Enter" twice at the end of every paragraph. Doing this will create a space between your paragraphs and will make your essay much, much easier to read. Remember, the real TOEFL essay scorer reads hundreds of essays every week and really, really appreciates nice formatting.

What about indentation?

"indentation" refers to the number of blank spaces at the beginning of a paragraph. The "standard" or most traditional formatting requires using five blank spaces at the beginning of every paragraph, although there are also two other common ways. The other very common way is not to use any spaces at all. The third way is to use two spaces instead of five.

You will notice in these forums that I (Erin Billy) usually skip a line between paragraphs, but that I do not use any spaces at the beginning of a new paragraph. I do this because this is an Internet discussion group. When I have to write a formal paper, however, I skip one line between paragraphs and indent five spaces.

2. Hit the space bar after almost EVERY punctuation mark. Specifically, this includes periods, commas, and colons. Conversely, do NOT hit the space bar before almost EVERY punctuation mark.

Good: Because I was sleepy, I went to bed a bit early.
Bad: Because I was sleepy,I went to bed a bit early.
Bad: Because I was sleepy ,I went to bed a bit early .

3. CAPITALIZE the first letter of every sentence, the pronoun “I,” and other proper nouns.

Good: Because I was sleepy, I went to bed a bit early.
Bad: because I was sleepy, I went to bed a bit early.

4. Do not use only uppercase letters or only lowercase letters.

Good: Because I was sleepy, I went to bed a bit early.
Bad: BECAUSE I WAS SLEEPY, I WENT TO BED A BIT EARLY.
Bad: because I was sleepy, I went to bed a bit early.

It would be very good to follow these guidelines in your posts, as well (if only to develop good habits). It can be difficult at times to read posts that use "irregular" punctuation.

If you have any questions or comments related to this post, you may post them here, and I will edit this topic as I deem necessary.

**Dusty** · 09-28-2002, 11:29 AM

hi there so i have a question, on the real TOEFL we need to make double space between the paragraphs and also 5 or 2 spaces on the beginning of each paragraph?

**vertical_horizon** · 09-28-2002, 11:51 AM

Hi Dusty, welcome to TM

!!!!

I myself have taken the test. I did one 'Enter' between the paragraphs and no spaces at the beginning of each para

. And I think that's enough to realize the desperation between them. Actually I got 5.0 (not high but not too bad

) for my essay and I don't think the score givers cost me 1.0 for that 'mistake'

.

-phuong-

**Erin** · 09-29-2002, 06:00 PM

Originally posted by Dusty

hi there so i have a question, on the real TOEFL we need to make double space between the paragraphs and also 5 or 2 spaces on the beginning of each paragraph?

TOEFL cannot take points of for not making your essay look beautiful, but you should think of your TOEFL essay, and any essay for that matter, as something of an advertising piece--"packaging" is important!!

**Dusty** · 09-30-2002, 04:14 PM

THanks Erin..yeah i guess it much more important not to make stupid grammar mistakes than worring about wheather to make 1 or 2 spases. though I know it has to look nice and easy readeble.
HEy phuong Thnaks for praying for me I'll need it ALOT. I did one test today from my caplan CD rom and I got 190-227..so i guess i dont have much chanses to get even 250 tommorow ..i donno i kinda tired of preparation..and plus MAN i'm "lucky" i got sick..some kind of flu so my head in pain like nuts and it's hard even to think SO PEOPLE WHEREVER YOU ARE PLEASE SAY A WORD FOR ME SO that i coould be happy with my test.....
man it's tommorow!!!!!!!!!!!!;o

**Vaya** · 09-30-2002, 04:44 PM

Dusty (really nice name) I am with you. My spirit will fly over your head and whisper you "It's d. Now it's c". Just don't trust it too much. Anyway the very best luck. I'll pray for you. Have a nice nigth (no nigthmares!) and don't worry too much. It can only spoil everything. Do some joga. Breathe deeply. Calm down and trust yourself. You can do it! You really can!

Renata

P.S. I switched the light at the end of the tunnel only for you...

**harbinger** · 10-01-2002, 12:01 AM

Many of my friends told me that KAPLAN gives us a simulation test difficult than real tests.
Don't trust it too much, it would deter you.

**Erin** · 10-01-2002, 12:59 AM

Guys, I think I'm going to lock this topic for now. I want this topic to be more of a reference for our users.

How about we start some other topics to address all the questions you've raised?