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Reporting Verbs

This document provides guidance on using reporting verbs in academic writing to accurately represent other authors' ideas and opinions. It lists examples of neutral, tentative, and strong reporting verbs classified by their connotation. Neutral verbs like "discuss" and "describe" present facts objectively. Tentative verbs like "question" and "suggest" represent more speculative ideas. Strong verbs indicate clear support or opposition, such as "endorse" versus "counter." The document advises choosing verbs that match the context and meaning, and considering whether to use past or present tense.

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248 views5 pages

Reporting Verbs

This document provides guidance on using reporting verbs in academic writing to accurately represent other authors' ideas and opinions. It lists examples of neutral, tentative, and strong reporting verbs classified by their connotation. Neutral verbs like "discuss" and "describe" present facts objectively. Tentative verbs like "question" and "suggest" represent more speculative ideas. Strong verbs indicate clear support or opposition, such as "endorse" versus "counter." The document advises choosing verbs that match the context and meaning, and considering whether to use past or present tense.

Uploaded by

Med Djbali
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Mondays, July 7th, 2016: 02:08 pm

http://www2.eit.ac.nz/library/ls_guides_reportingverbs.html

Words instead of "say" or "write"


In academic writing, we need to refer to the research and ideas of others. We can
express an opinion about the research by choosing an appropriate reporting verb,
and these can range in strength, from negative, through neutral to expressing a
strong opinion. These are alternatives to the words “said” and wrote”. Below is a
list of some reporting verbs you may find useful.  Bear in mind that no two words
are exactly the same, and you need to consider the nuances of meaning when you
make your choice, ensuring you give an accurate interpretation to the writer’s
ideas and intentions, and indicate your attitude to the idea. Depending on the
tense used in your assignment, reporting verbs can be in either the past or present
tense, and the structure of the sentence may vary according to the reporting verb
you choose. Have a look at the examples below to give you some ideas (note the
change in tense):

Smith (2013) reasoned that communication skills are essential to building effective nurse-


patient relationships.
In her presentation, Smith (2013) acknowledges communication skills are essential ...
Smith (2013) emphasised that communication skills are essential ...
In her presentation, Smith (2013) challenges the claim that communication skills are ...
Brown (2013) concurred that communication skills are essential to building ...
In her study on building effective nurse-student relationships, Brown (2013) endorsed the idea
that communication skills are essential.
Brown (2013) casts doubt on the value of communications skill as being essential to building ...
Brown (2013) highlighted the importance of communication skills in building ...
Brown (2013) rebuffed the idea that communication skills are essential to ...

The following list gives you some choices, classified according to their strength. However, do not feel
bound by this classification; rather choose the most appropriate word for the context. Add more
words which you may find useful. Please note that the list has been given in the present tense; you
may need to change the tense to the past.

Neutral Tentative Strong


Making a strong argument, either
Usually to present More speculative, not positive or negative
the facts absolutely certain
Positive     Negative
discuss question add disagree
examine maintain agree argue
analyse claim affirm cast doubt
define reason contend challenge
describe postulate concur disapprove
echo inquire endorse disprove
find suggest maintain rebuff
note propose point out refute
outline imply prove reject 
present intimate reason counter
reflect put forward reveal
report identify show
state speculate stress
unpack theorise support
observe suppose prove
comment recommend clarify
explain take into consideration contribute
allege hypothesise determine
study assume claim
point out develop stress
consider believe
mention emphasise
highlight

 
References

International Student Centre, Johnston, M. (n.d.). Writing at the University of

Toronto: Verbs for referring to sources.Retrieved from

http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/advice/english-as-a-second-

language/referring-to-sources

The University of Warwick, Sharpling, G. (2012). Reporting verbs. Retrieved from

http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/al/globalpad/openhouse/academicenglis

hskills/grammar/reportingverbs/

Wong-Toi, G., & Bartlett-Trafford, J. (2009). The business of writing: Written

communication skills for business students (3rd ed.). Auckland, New Zealand:

Pearson Education New Zealand.


http://www.uts.edu.au/current-students/support/helps/self-help-resources/grammar/reporting-
verbs

Reporting verbs

ON THIS PAGE

 Part 1: Advanced ways to show your attitude


 Part 2: Your "writer's" voice
 The grammar of reporting verbs
Academic writing requires you to use citations to refer to the original source when you have used someone
else’s ideas or concepts in your writing.

One of the most common ways to incorporate these citations into your writing is to use reporting verbsto
help you to present the information.

The use of reporting verbs in your written academic work can help to reflect your attitudes to the 'sourced
information' or help you to voice your opinions/arguments better in your assignment work.

There is a wide variety of reporting verbs in the English language, some of which are detailed below:

Part 1: Advanced ways to show your attitude


Reporting verbs are a way for you, the writer, to show your attitude towards the source of information you
are citing. These attitudes are either ‘positive’, ‘negative’ or ‘neutral’.

____________________________________________________________________________

Do you agree with what the author has said? If so, use reporting verbs with a positive meaning
to them. Here are some reporting verbs that tend to be positive:

acknowledges affirms analyses applauds

argues contends explains identifies

observes persuades proves supports

____________________________________________________________________________

Do you disagree with what the author has said? In this case, you can use a negative reporting
verb to indicate this. Here are some reporting verbs used when there is a belief that the
literature is incorrect:
accuses alleges apologises asserts

comments confuses doubts guesses

hopes intimates questions speculates

____________________________________________________________________________

Perhaps you feel neutral about the source you are citing. In this situation, you should use a
neutral reporting verb. Here are some reporting verbs that tend to be neutral:

accepts acknowledges adds agrees

assures claims concludes confirms

describes expresses maintains recognises

reports says thinks  

____________________________________________________________________________

Keep in mind that there are many more reporting verbs you can use to more fully express how you feel
about the sources you are using in your essays and papers.

Adapted from: The Independent Learning Centre (opens external site), Chinese University, Hong
Kong, n.d. Reporting verbs, viewed 26 October 2012

Part 2: Your "writer's" voice


Academic writing at university normally requires you to use multiple information sources, and
to evaluate the quality of these ideas. One important tool for doing this is reporting verbs.

Reporting verbs tell us that someone said something. However, careful selection of reporting verbs can
help show your assessment of the quality of what they have said. This is a vital academic skill. It not only
helps turn ordinary Pass-level work into much better work, but it also develops your critical thinking skills.

Reporting verbs can show your opinion of others’ ideas:

 a belief that the literature is correct (stronger position)

 a neutral attitude towards the veracity of the literature (i.e. neither correct nor incorrect – neutral
position)
 a belief that the literature is incorrect (weaker position)

The grammar of reporting verbs


Reporting verbs have simple basic grammar. However, it can be confusing because there are two basic
patterns.  Some reporting verbs belong to one pattern, some to the other, and some to both.

Pattern 1: Verb + Noun (noun phrase)


The authors show the devastating results of this policy (Smith and Jones 2008, p. 12). For example:
Gillard (2012) indicated her negative opinion of Abbott’s proposal.
Pinker (2002) frequently approves of Chomsky’s theories.

Pattern 2: Verb + That + clause (i.e. sentence)


Examples: The authors show that this policy had 'devastating economic results' (Smith & Jones
2008, p. 12).
Gillard (2012) indicated that Abbott’s proposal was untenable in her opinion.

 
Tense
Reporting verbs are normally present simple – especially for recent articles and books. For example:
Turner (2010) states that the modern nation wields more power in new ways.

However, use the past tense if presenting the results of past research – even in recent literature. For
example:
The groups observed during the research showed a range of leadership styles (Kang 2006).

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