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WRITING CENTRE
L E A R N I N G G U I D E
WRITING CENTRE
Level 3 East, Hub Central, North Terrace campus, The University of Adelaide SA 5005 Australia
T: +61 8 8313 5771 | E: [email protected] | W: www.adelaide.edu.au/writingcentre/
Reporting Verbs
In academic writing, you will often need to refer to the research of
others, also called secondary sources. A reporting verb is a word
which is used to talk about or report on other people's work.
Reporting verbs can be used to great effect, but the difficulty with
using them is that there are many, and each of them has a slightly
different and often subtle meaning.
Introduction In academic writing, it is important to present an argument logically and cohesively. You may be required to: comment on someone’s work agree or disagree with someone else’s study evaluate someone’s ideas
Often you will be assessed on your ability to demonstrate these skills.
It is repetitive and boring to write ‘Smith says...’ over and over again. Fortunately, there is a wide choice of reporting verbs in English. Reporting verbs can indicate either (a) the author’s personal viewpoint, (b) your viewpoint regarding what the author says, and/or (c) the author’s viewpoint regarding other literature.
To interpret the writer’s ideas accurately, however, you will need to use a verb with the correct nuance (sense of meaning). Use an English learner's dictionary to check that you have the right verb for the right context.
Function and strength of reporting verbs Some verbs are weaker in their function, while others are strong. Some verbs are followed by a preposition (e.g. as, to, for, with, of), while others are followed by a noun or ‘that’ (see page 3).
In addition, some verbs can fit more than one category e.g.warns can be used to disagree
with, emphasise or examine an idea.
Common reporting verbs for academic writing It is important you understand and know how to use the verb correctly before placing it in a sentence, and that you use past or present tense as appropriate.
weaker position neutral position stronger position
addition adds advice advises
agreement admits, concedes accepts, acknowledges, agrees,concurs, confirms, recognises^ applauds, congratulates, extols,praises, supports
argument and persuasion
apologises assures, encourages, interprets,justifies, reasons
alerts, argues, boasts, contends, convinces, emphasises, exhorts, forbids, insists, proves, promises, persuades, threatens, warns
believing guesses, hopes,imagines
believes, claims, declares, expresses, feels, holds, knows, maintains, professes, subscribes to, thinks
asserts, guarantees, insists, upholds
conclusion concludes, discovers, finds,infers, realises
disagreement and questioning
doubts, questions challenges, debates, disagrees,questions, requests, wonders
accuses, attacks, complains, contradicts, criticises, denies, discards, disclaims, discounts, dismisses, disputes, disregards, negates, objects to, opposes, refutes, rejects discussion comments discusses, explores reasons
emphasis
accentuates, emphasises, highlights, stresses, underscores, warns
evaluation and examination
analyses, appraises, assesses, compares considers, contrasts, critiques, evaluates, examines, investigates, understands
blames, complains, ignores, scrutinises, warns
explanation articulates, clarifies, explains
presentation confuses
comments, defines, describes, estimates, forgets, identifies, illustrates, implies, informs, instructs, lists, mentions, notes, observes, outlines, points out, presents, remarks, reminds, reports, restates, reveals, shows, states, studies, tells, uses
announces, promises
suggestion alleges, intimates,speculates
advises, advocates, hypothesises, posits, postulates, proposes, suggests, theorises
asserts, recommends, urges
Example sentences Remember that the tense you use for your reporting verb will depend on your style guide. Some styles prefer present tense while others prefer past tense.
Boynton (1982, p. 79) warns the reader that ordinary chocolate is ‘too frail to withstand heat, moisture and proximity to baked beans’.
Hanks (2004, p. 257) defines an idiom as an expression whose ‘meaning... is distinct from the sum of its parts’.
Smith (2005) disagrees with Fry (2003) when she maintains that many students have trouble with reporting verbs.
Some people subscribe to the idea that chocolate is unhealthy, but Boynton’s (1982) book refutes this claim.
This paper investigates the effects of alcohol on memory and stresses that further research be done as a matter of urgency.
References
Boynton, S. (1982).Chocolate: The consuming passion. London: Methuen.
Hanks, P. (2004). The syntagmatics of metaphor and idiom.International Journal of
Lexicography, 17 (3), 245-274.
Useful resources
Websites
http://academicenglishcafe.com/ReportedandQuotedSpeechVerbs.aspx http://tls.vu.edu.au/SLS/slu/ReadingWriting/Referencing/ReportingVerbs/ReportingVerbs.htm http://www.edufind.com/english/grammar/rep7.cfm http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/al/learning_english/leap/grammar/reportingverbs
Printables
http://www.awc.metu.edu.tr/handouts/Verbs_to_Introduce_Paraphrases_and_Quotations.pdf http://www.latrobe.edu.au/lasesl/assets/downloads/verbs-message.pdf http://www.latrobe.edu.au/learning/assets/downloads/Referencing-phrases.doc http://www.york.ac.uk/k-roy/pdfs/Reporting%20Verbs%20functions.pdf
If you require more assistance with Reporting Verbs, please contact the Writing Centre on 8313 5771. Visit the Writing Centre website for additional resources: www.adelaide.edu.au/writingcentre/ Principal Authors: Julia Miller & Donna Velliaris 2009. Revised 2010.
