Looking for advice of experienced writers

When you write a formal paper (say an English paper for a University), should you use "you"?

In high school, I had a teacher who taught that for college paper, it is more formal to use "one" instead of "you". Like instead of saying "your opinion", you should write "one's opinion". As I become more familiar with writing, I see more people just writing "you" instead of "one" so now there's conflict. Things for like lab reports, however are more likely to have "one" instead of "you".

Just because it's what your teacher says, doesn't mean it's true. In my own opinion, mixing both "one" and "you" throughout your entire whatever your writing, would be best.

Formally, it is highly advised to not use "you" in an essay paper. I try to not use "you" as much as possible. Sometimes, there are sentences or statements that require the usage of the word "you", or else it would make no sense.

Also, over-using the word "one" in an entire essay (depending on the length of the essay) is bad too. Point being: TRY to not use "you" too much, but use it when you have to in order for something to make sense.

I use "you" a couple times on my Windows Server 2003 "How to increase your System Performance" essay, and I got a "A". I also used "one", as well. A variety of words as to not make the essay too boring or plain.

You can trust me on what I type here, because I got an A on my Speech class, lulz.

Well, I normally don't use it because using "you" generally means you're speaking in second person, and that's normally not advised.

Example:

You know when you kill someone you would naturally want to run away.

You're accusing the reader of murdering someone.

^exactly the case of why to use "one" instead of you. But in the case of Kasuhitomi, it would be necessary to use you. But the conflict is that you one would need to know when to apply it.

^exactly the case of why to use "one" instead of you. But in the case of Kasuhitomi, it would be necessary to use you. But the conflict is that you one would need to know when to apply it.

icwatudidder

But, um, at my school, I get marked off for using "you." I usually just replace it with something like "the reader" or "the student," etc.

icwatudidder

But, um, at my school, I get marked off for using "you." I usually just replace it with something like "the reader" or "the student," etc.

BUT ISN'T THE PERSON BEING REFERRED TO AS YOU THE READER?

I am ConPuzzled ™

Depends on what you're writing for.

For a formal report, you should avoid using personal pronouns in general. It sounds equally tacky to say either 'one' or 'you'. The sentence should be reworded to sound more like a report (i.e. describing a scenario rather than speaking to an audience).

For an English paper at lower levels of writing (high school and 1000 and 2000 level classes, especially at technical schools) you should avoid using 'you'. You should probably avoid using 'one' as well, but if the situation calls for it, then go for it.

At higher levels of writing, the rules break down. There are plenty of situations where the second person is useful, whether you're speaking directly to an audience, or trying to set a tone, or whatever. Rules about what you should do are really meaningless in the real world. Colloquial language is used far more often than formal writing.

Personally, I almost never use the word 'one' as a pronoun. It's just not something people say, and sounds unnatural in most contexts. I'm pretty sure that in your situation, you should stick with the first course of action I mentioned. That is, don't use personal pronouns.

If you could provide a little more context and an example, I can demonstrate how to fix it.