APPENDIX IV
TYPICAL CONSTRUCTIONS IN ACADEMIC WRITING
Impersonal constructions accounting for backgrounds:
It is …common knowledge (experience)
… well known/ commonplace that…
… a matter of common observation…
… generally agreed/ accepted that…
... claimed /being claimed
It is taken for granted that…
It is not entirely clear…
It is encouraging that…
It is hoped that…
It turns out/ proves to be …
It would be of great interest to …
Focusing:
This ...implies/ proves/ shows/ yields/
...is meant to support our theory
...will allow me to propose…
...offers a way of
...is another way of approaching …
Commenting and demonstrating intentions:
...it is important to view…
…it is particularly necessary to underline…
…it seems impossible …
…it will be shown that…
…it is easy/ (not) hard/ relatively simple to demonstrate/show/ prove/ verify that…
…it must be recognized that…
…to make a distinction between …one should…
…it may be difficult to understand …
…it can be/ is (not) easily shown/ proved…
…on further examination it was discovered that …
…to grasp this point we must…
…in order to achieve/ clarify...it is necessary to …
…to argue this, I’d like to…
... it is not sufficient to define …
Evaluating and prospecting:
It is appropriate/ convenient/ desirable/ essential...
... to start with…
… to present/ to outline /to show…
It is ...fair/ fruitful/ helpful/ important/ instructive/ interesting/ logical to…
It is ...natural/ proper/ reasonable/ sensible to mention that…
It is ...safe/ suitable/ useful/ wise to introduce some terminology/definitions.
It is ...informative to turn to…
…wise to begin with …
... natural to recognize (conclude) that …
It seems …
...fair to say
...important to emphasize that…
...logical to ask whether …
It would be
...reasonable to assume that…
...safe to predict that …
It might be helpful to examine …
It is essential to make clear/ to see that …
It is (not) good (enough) to appeal to …
It is (none the less) clear that …
It became/ is (not) clear/ obvious that…
It is/ seems (quite) logical (to assume) ... that…
It is difficult/ possible to imagine that…
It is evident/ self-evident (for us)/ (un)likely/ (highly) probable that…
Choosing and stating:
- It appears (seems/ may be/ is) fair/ reasonable to say that …
- It is (would be) accurate to say that…
- It goes without saying that…
- It is (not even a half) truth to say that…
- It's often easier to do … than…
- In doing ...it is better to use…
- Instead of working in terms of …it is more convenient to introduce…
- It might be less confusing to use the theory…
- In order to measure ...it is crucial to calculate…
- In conclusion, it may be said that …
Arguing by negation
- It is beyond the scope of this paper
- It is not my purpose/ the purpose of this article
- It is doubtful/ seems unlikely that this theory …
- It is in principle impossible
- It would not be productive
- It is thus not surprising
- It needs no argument that…
- It is misleading/ nonsensical/ pointless/ not correct/ an error to focus only on…
- It would not be adequate to regard/ consider…
- It cannot/ can hardly be denied that..
Arguing by inversion:
- It is here where these effects are most important.
- It is in this area of inquiry that much of the terminology originates.
- It is one of the basic principles of …
- It is exactly the case.
- It is precisely this that distinguishes…
- It is our aim to…
Parenthesis :
a) connecting :
- In view of…
- From this point of view
- In a broad sense
- In this connection
- In particular
- In detail
- In this framework…
- In our current conception…
- In response to this....
- In practice, …
- With regard to, …
- In discussing/ surveying …
- From this perspective, let us re-examine…
- Methodologically/ Technically, ...this seems to be…
- In any area of science, there will be issues …
b) explaining:
- Given the notion/ limitation/ difficulty of…we can explain…
- Given the fact that…the conclusion is evident
- Given that, we can extend the interpretation оf
- With regard to…a certain clarification is necessary.
- Following … we will refer to…as …
- By exploring this paradigm,
- Admittedly, this problem is not new.
- Presumably/ That is to say,…
- Under certain/ experimental circumstances…
- In these (other) cases…
- According to the analysis given here…
- To this end,…
c) comparing and inferring:
- Accordingly/ alternatively/ equally/ equivalently/ similarly
- Likewise/ otherwise/ conversely/ consequently,
- By analogy/ contrast
- Because of this/ for this reason/ for the present,
- As compared with / in comparison with / as follows from …
- As a result (consequence)
- In this respect…
- As always…
- But / however / at best / at the same time / nevertheless/ still,
- Therefore / hence / so / then / thus / on the contrary,
- On the one hand/ on the other hand…
- From the other side,...
- In reality/ In the latter (that/ this) case,
d) generalizing:
- Generally / Typically / Essentially / Naturally / Most important / In general,
- On a more general level/ In a more general context,
- Typically, in other words / As a general rule/ First of all,
- In effect / In essence / In a word / In brief / To simplify,
- In principle / Seen as a whole
- In any case,
- To summarize the ideas…
e) succession:
- To begin with/ Next/ Again/ To repeat,…
- First(ly)/ Second(ly)/ Third(ly),…
- Ultimately/ In closing/ Finally,… .
- In short/ In summary /To summarize,…
- At this point,…
- Continuing in the same way,…
- Before looking at this matter, however, …
- Before we go into these problems,..
- As for …/ As far as … is concerned…
- Regarding …/ Apart from …/ Leaving aside…/ As matters stand,…
- To my very limited knowledge,…
- As far as we are aware,…
- In considering …
- In looking ahead and planning the work…
f) additions and appositions:
- What’s more/Further/ Furthermore/ Moreover/ Besides/ Also/ In addition to…
- Above all/ After all/ Indeed/ Actually/ Virtually/ Rather
- In these terms/ In other words,
- In fact/ That is/ Namely/ More correctly,
- In abbreviated form,……
- Roughly/ strictly speaking, ...
- In a way,…
- This means…
j) attitudes:
- Clearly/ Evidently/ Interestingly (enough)/ Fortunately/ Regrettably,
- To be sure/ Little wonder/ Surprisingly,
- Obviously/ Surely/ Understandably,
- In our opinion,
- Unfortunately,