English for Chemistry and Biochemistry 1

CHEMISTRY

TASKS: Defining
Classifying
LANGUAGE: Connectors

1 READING PASSAGE
CHEMISTRY
1 The science that embraces the properties, composition, and structure of
matter, the changes in structure and composition that matter undergoes,
and the accompanying energy changes. It is important to distinguish
chemical change, implicit in this definition, and changes in physical form.
An example of the latter is the conversion of liquid water to solid or gas by
cooling or heating; the water substance is unchanged. In chemical change,
such as the rusting of iron, the metal is consumed as it reacts with air in the
presence of water to form the new substance, iron oxide.

2 Modern chemistry grew out of the alchemy of the Middle Ages, and the
attempts to transmutebase metals into gold. Seminalobservations were
made in the early eighteenth century on the changes in volume of air
during combustion in a closed vessel, and the French chemist Antoine
Lavoisier in the 1770s interpreted these phenomena in essentially modern
terms.

3 Atoms and elements. Underlying all of chemistry is the concept of

elementary units of matter which cannot be subdivided. This idea was
adumbrated in classical Greek writings, and was clearly expressed by the
Englishman John Dalton in 1803, who called these units atoms. Different
kinds of atoms were recognized, each corresponding to one of the
chemical elements such as oxygen, sulfur, tin, iron, and a few other metals.
By the mid-nineteenth century, about 80 elements had been characterized,
and these were organized on the basis of regularities in behavior and
properties, into a periodic table.

4 In the early twentieth century, observations of radiation from various

sources and its impact on solidtargets led to the recognition of three
2 Chemistry/defining and classifying

fundamental particles that are common to all elements; the electron, with
negative charge; the proton, with positive charge; and the neutron, with
zero charge. An atom consists of a nucleuscontaining protons and
neutrons, and a diffuse cloud of electrons, equal in number to the number
of protons and arranged in orbitals of progressively higher energy levels as
the distance from the nucleus increases. The atomic number of an element
(Z) is defined as the number of protons in the nucleus; this is the sequence
of ordering in the periodic table. The mass number corresponds to the total
number of protons and neutrons.

5 Isotopes. Most elements exist as isotopes, which have differing numbers

of neutrons. All isotopes of an element exhibit the same chemical
behavior, although isotopes can be separated on the basis of differences in
atomic mass. The known elements total 106; of these, 88 have been
detected in one or more isotopic forms in the Earth's crust. The other
elements, including all but one of those with atomic number above 92, are
synthetic isotopes produced in nuclear reactions that take place in nuclear
piles or particle accelerators. Most of the isotopes of these heavier
elements and also some lighter ones are radioactive; that is, the nuclei are
unstable and decay, resulting in the emission of radiation.

6 Molecules and chemical reactions. Molecules are combinations of two or

more atoms, bonded together in definite proportions and specific
geometric arrangements. These entities are called chemical compounds; a
molecule is the smallest unit. The bonding of atoms in compounds
involves the distribution of electrons, and is the central concern of
chemistry.

7 Compounds result from chemical reactions of atoms or molecules. The

process involves formation and breaking of bonds, and may be either
exothermic, in which the net bond charges lead to a more stable (lower-
energy) system and heat is evolved, or endothermic, in which energy must
be added to overcome a net loss of bonding energy.

8 A simple case is the reaction of hydrogen and oxygen to give water, which
can be expressed as reaction (1).

2H2 + O2 2H2O (1)

H = -572 kilojoules
3 English for Chemistry

9 The equation is balanced; no atoms are gained or lost in a chemical

reaction. The symbols represent the nature of the initial and final materials
and also the final amounts. Thus H2O represents a molecule of water or a
mole, which is the quantity in grams (or other mass units) equivalent to the
molecular weight. The symbol Hindicates the energy (enthalpy) change
for the process. The reaction of hydrogen and oxygen is highly exothermic,
and the sign of the energy change is therefore negative since the system
has lost heat to the surroundings.

10 Bonds. Bonds can be broadly classified as ionic or covalent. An ion is an

atom or molecule which has an electric charge. Ionic compounds can be
illustrated by salts such as sodium chloride, NaCl, in which a positive
sodium ion, Na+, and negative chloride ion, Cl -, are associated by
electrostatic attraction in regular locations of a crystallattice. In solution
the ions are solvated by water molecules and can conduct an electric
current.

11 In covalent molecules, bonds are formed by the presence of pairs of

electrons in overlapping orbitals between two atoms. Thus when two
hydrogen atoms (H.) come within bonding distance, a molecule of
hydrogen is formed in an exothermic reaction, by formation of a covalent
bond. In this case the heat of reaction represents the energy of the HH
bond [reaction (2)].

2H  HH (2)
H = -435 kilojoules

12 Chemical compounds. A compound is specified by the elements it

contains, the number of atoms of each element, the bonding arrangement,
and the characteristic properties. The number of unique compounds that
have been isolated from natural sources or prepared by chemical synthesis
is enormous; as of 1990, over 10 million substances were registered in the
filemaintained by Chemical Abstracts (American Chemical Society). Most
of these are organic compounds, containing from a few to many hundred
carbon atoms. The element carbon, unlike any others, can form long chains
of covalently bonded atoms. Moreover, there can be many compounds,
called isomers, with the same chemical composition. Thus a molecular
4 Chemistry/defining and classifying

formula such as C8H16O can represent many thousand different

compounds.

13 Branches. Traditionally, five main subdivisions are designated for the

activities, professional organizations, and literature of chemistry and
chemists.

14 Analytical chemistry. This subdivision is an overarching discipline

dealing withdetermination of the composition of matter and the amount of
each component in mixtures of any kind. Analytical measurements are an
integral and indispensable part of all chemical endeavor. Originally,
analytical chemistry involved detection, separation, and weighing of the
substances present in a mixture. Determination of the atomic ratio and
thence the molecular formula of a compound is a prerequisite for any other
investigation; the development of balances and techniques for doing this
on milligram quantities of material had an enormous impact on organic
chemistry. Advances since the 1950s have involved increasingly
sophisticatedinstrumentation; mass spectrometers are a notable example.
Other important methods include high-resolution chromatography and
variousapplications of electrochemistry. A constantgoal in analytical
chemistry is the development of methods and instruments of greater
sensitivity. It is now possible to detect trace compounds such as
environmentalpollutants at the picogramlevel.

15 Biochemistry. Biochemistry is the study of living systems from a

chemical viewpoint; thus it is concerned with the compounds and reactions
that occur in plant and animal cells. Most of the substances in living
tissues, including carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, nucleic acids, and
hormones, are well-defined organic substances. However, the metabolic
and regulatory processes of these compounds and their biological function
are the special province of biochemistry. One of the major areas is the
characterization of enzymes and their cofactors, and the mechanism of
enzyme catalysis. Other topics of interest include the transport of ions and
molecules across cell membranes, and the target sites of neurotransmitters
and other regulatory molecules. Biochemical methods and thinking have
contributedextensively to the fields of endocrinology, genetics,
immunology, and virology.
5 English for Chemistry

16 Inorganic chemistry. This discipline is concerned with any material in

which metals and metalloid elements are of primary interest. Inorganic
chemistry is therefore concerned with the structure, synthesis, and bonding
of a very diverserange of compounds. One of the early interests was the
composition of minerals and the discovery of new elements; from this has
grown the specialized area of geochemistry. Early synthetic work
emphasized compounds of the main group elements, and particularly in
this century, complex compounds of the transition metals. These studies
have led to soluble transition-metal catalysts, and a greatly increased
understanding of catalytic processes and the pivotal role of metal atoms in
major biochemical processes, such as oxygen transport in blood,
photosynthesis, and biological nitrogen fixation. Other contributions of
inorganic chemistry are seen in advancedceramics, high-
performancecomposite materials, and the growing number of high-
temperature superconductors.

17 Organic chemistry. This subdivision is centered on compounds of carbon.

Originally these were the compounds isolated from plant and animal
sources, but the term was very early broadened to include all compounds
in which a linear or cyclic carbon chain is the main feature. Two of the
major thrusts have been the elucidation of new structures and their
preparation by synthesis; another long-standing interest has been study of
the reaction mechanisms and rearrangements of organic compounds.
Structure work on naturally occurring compounds progressed over a 150-
year period from simple straight-chain compounds with 2-10 carbon
atoms, hydrogen, and 1 or 2 oxygen atoms to antibiotics and toxins with
many rings and as many as 100 carbon atoms. In modern work, nuclear
magnetic resonance spectroscopy and x-raydiffraction have become
indispensable tools. Paralleling structural studies has been the synthesis of
increasingly complex target molecules. Synthetic work is directed also to
the preparation of large numbers of compounds for screening as potential
drugs and agricultural chemicals. Plastics, synthetic fibers, and other high
polymers are other products of organic chemistry.

18 Physical chemistry. This discipline deals with the interpretation of

chemical phenomena and the underlying physical processes. One of the
classical topics of physical chemistry involves the thermodynamic and
kinetic principles that govern chemical reactions. Another is a description
of the physical states of matter in molecular terms. Experimentation and
6 Chemistry/defining and classifying

theoretical analysis have been directed to the understanding of equilibria,

solution behavior, electrolysis, and surface phenomena. One of the major
contributions has been quantum chemistry, and the applications and
insights that it has provided. The methods and instruments of physical
chemistry, including such hardware as spectrometers and magnetic
resonance and diffraction instruments, are an integral part of every other
area.

19 Others. Each broad area of chemistry embraces many specialized topics.

There are also a number of hybrid areas, such as bioorganic and
bioinorganic chemistry, analytical biochemistry, and physical organic
chemistry. Each of these areas has borrowed extensively from and
contributed to every other one. It is better to view chemistry as a
seamlessweb, rather than a series of compartments.
(from: McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, 540-542)
7 English for Chemistry

2 LANGUAGE INFORMATION
2.1 VOCABULARY LIST
The English expression is given on the left, and the German equivalent on the
right. In brackets you are given the paragraph number and line. Where a word
may have more than one meaning, the meaning in the context of the passage
is underlined. The stress is given by means of ' before the stressed syllable.

ENGLISH EXPLANATION
ac'celerators
ac'companying
'added, to add
'adumbrated, to adumbrate
ad'vanced
Ad'vances
agri'cultural
a'mounts
antibi'otics
appli'cations
ar'rangements
as 'many as
as of
a'tomic 'number
at'tempts
at'traction
'balanced
'balances
base
behavior (GB = behaviour)
'bonded
'borrowed, to borrow
breaking, to break
'broadened, to broaden
'broadly
carbo'hydrates
'carbon
'centered, to center
(GB = to centre)
8 Chemistry/defining and classifying

'century
ce'ramics
chains
'characterized, to characterize
charge
cloud
'cofactors
com'bustion
'common
com'partments
com'ponent
'composite (materials)
compo'sition
'compounds
con'cern
con'duct, to conduct
consists of, to consist of
'constant
con'sumed, to consume
con'taining, to contain
con'tributed, to contribute
con'version
co'valent
crust
'crystal
'current
'cyclic
dealing with, to deal with
de'cay, to decay
'designated, to designate
de'tected, to detect
determi'nation
de'velopment
'differing
dif'fraction
'directed to, to direct to
dis'covery
dis'tinguish, to distinguish
di'verse
9 English for Chemistry

drugs
elec'trolysis
eluci'dation
em'braces, to embrace
empha'sized, to emphasize
en'deavor
(US, GB = endeavour)
endocrin'ology
endo'thermic
'enthalpy
environ'mental (adjective)
'enzymes
e'quation
equi'libria (sing. equilibrium)
e'ssentially
e'volved, to evolve
ex'hibit, to exhibit
'exothermic
ex'tensively
fibers (US, GB = fibres)
file
'final
form, to form
for'mation
'formula
ge'netics
goal
'govern, to govern
grew, to grow (out of)
high-per'formance
high-reso'lution
How'ever
immun'ology
'impact
'indicates, to indicate
indis'pensable
in'itial
'insights
instrumen'tation
10 Chemistry/defining and classifying

investi'gation
in'volves, to involve
i'onic
'iron
'lattice
'level
'linear
lipids
'liquid
long-'standing
main
main'tained, to maintain
'major
'matter
meta'bolic
metalloid
'minerals
'mixtures
More'over
'nature
'neurotransmitters
'nitrogen fixation
'notable
nu'cleic 'acids
'nucleus
obser'vations
oc'cur, to occur
O 'riginally
over'arching
over'come, to overcome
'oxygen
'particles
par'ticularly
peri'odic 'table
'physical states of 'matter
piles
'pivotal
'Plastics
pol'lutants
11 English for Chemistry

pre'requisite
'presence
pro'fessionalorgani'zations
pro'gressed, to progress
pro'gressively
'properties (sing. property)
'proteins
pro'vided
'province
radi'ation
range
'ratio
re'acts, to react
re'arrangements
recognized, to recognize
'registered, to register
regu'larities
'regulatory
repre'sent, to represent
re'sult from, to result from
re'sulting in, to result in
'rusting
'screening
'seamless
'Seminal original, important (2,2)
sensi'tivity
'solid
'soluble
so'lution
sol'vated
so'phisticated
straight-chain
'structure
'subdivided, to subdivide
'subdivisions
'sulfur
'superconductors
'surface
sur'roundings
12 Chemistry/defining and classifying

'targets
term
terms, in modern terms
that is
thence
thrusts
Thus also (9,3)
tin
'tissues
'topics
'total, to total
'toxins
trace
tran'sition
trans'mute
'transport, ion transport
undergoes, to undergo
Under'lying, to underlie
u'nique
'units
'unlike
un'stable
'various
'vessel
view, to view
'viewpoint
vir'ology
web
with'in
'x-ray
2.2 TECHNICAL AND SUBTECHNICAL TERMINOLOGY
science
properties/property
composition
structure
matter
energy
physical form/state (of matter)
13 English for Chemistry

conversion
liquid, solid, gas
cooling
heating
to consume
to react
iron oxide
combustion
vessel
atom
element
oxygen, sulfur, tin, iron
behavior
periodic table
radiation
fundamental particles
charge
nucleus (plural: nuclei)
orbital
energy level
atomic number
isotopes
isotopic
Earth’s crust
nuclear reactions
nuclear piles
particle accelerators
unstable
to decay
emission
molecules
bonded, to bond
arrangement
compound
distribution
formation of bonds
breaking of bonds
exothermic
net
14 Chemistry/defining and classifying

to evolve (heat, gas...)

endothermic
hydrogen
equation
initial materials
final materials
mole
molecular weight
enthalpy
ionic bond
covalent bond
ion
sodium chloride
electrostatic attraction
crystal lattice
solution
to solvate
to conduct
electric current
organic compound
carbon
chains
isomers
formula
analytical chemistry
determination
component
mixture
detection
separation
weighing
atomic ratio
molecular formula
balances
organic chemistry
mass spectrometers
chromatography
electrochemistry
trace compounds
15 English for Chemistry

environmental pollutants
biochemistry
living systems
plant cells
animal cells
living tissues
carbohydrates
lipids
proteins
nu'cleic acids
hormones
metabolic processes
enzymes
cofactors
enzyme catalysis
ion transport
cell membranes
neurotransmitters
endocrinology
genetics
immunology
virology
inorganic chemistry
metalloid elements
synthesis
minerals
geochemistry
transition metals
soluble
catalysts
catalytic
photosynthesis
nitrogen fixation
advanced
ceramics
high-performance
composite material
superconductors
linear carbon chain
16 Chemistry/defining and classifying

cyclic carbon chain

reaction mechanisms
straight-chain compounds
antibiotics
toxins
nuclear magnetic resonance
spectroscopy
x-ray diffraction
drugs
agricultural chemicals
plastics
fibers
polymers
thermodynamic
kinetic
experimentation
analysis
equilibrium / equilibria
electrolysis
surface phenomena
quantum chemistry
biorganic
bioinorganic

2.3 COLLOCATIONS
 to undergo changes in structure...(1,2)
 conversion from one form/state to another (1,4)
 a chemical reacts with another chemical to form a new substance (1,6)
 to transmute base metals into gold (2,2)
 to make observations on (2,2)
 to interpret phenomena in xxx terms (2,4)
 to organise sth. on the basis of regularities etc. into... (3,7)
 to be common to (4,3)
 sth. is defined as... (4,7)
 to exhibit behavior (5,2)
 reactions take place in... (5,6)
 reaction of H and O to give water (8,1)
 to gain or lose atoms (9,1)
17 English for Chemistry

 to lose heat to the surroundings (9,7)

 to form a bond (11,1)
 to isolate a compound from a source (12,3)
 to form chains of atoms (12,7)
 determination of the composition of (14,2)
 to be an integral part of sth. (14,3)
 to have an enormous impact on (14,7)
 to detect compounds at a certain level (14,13)
 to be the special province of sth. (15,6)
 to be centered on (17,1)
 to become an indispensable tool (17,10)
 to screen a drug/chemical (17,13)
 to describe sth. in particular terms (18,4)
2.4 NOTES ON GRAMMAR
by cooling (1,5) by + -ing expresses means, like the German
indem, durch
underlying... (3,1) present participle (-ing) to express what
underlies...
each corresponding to (3,4) present participle = and each corresponds
to = German wobei...
a nucleus containing... (4,4) containing here postmodifiesa nucleus; it
acts like a relative clause
all but one (5,5) but here has the meaning of außer
resulting in (5,8) present participle = which results in
from this has grown (16,5) inversion of normal sentence order
eamless web (19,5) web has the basic meaning of
“spider’s web” and is used here
metaphorically to refer to a system of
interconnections; seamless is also used
metaphorically - seam originally means
the line along which pieces of fabric are
joined, so that seamless means
“continuous”
18 Chemistry/defining and classifying

2.5 VERBS, NOUNS, ADJECTIVES WITH PREPOSITIONS

2.5.1 Verbs with prepositions

 to react with
 to grow out of
 to correspond to
 to organize into
 to lead to
 to consist of
 to result in
 to result from
 to lose sth.
 to isolate from
 to deal with
 to be concerned with
 to contribute to
 to be centered on
 to direct to
 to borrow from

2.5.2 Nouns with prepositions

 change in (structure)
 conversion from...to
 regularities in
 radiation from (a source)
 impact on
 recognition of
 quantity in (units)
 prerequisite for
 at a level
 role of...in

2.5.3 Adjectives with prepositions

 implicit in
 common to
19 English for Chemistry

 equivalent to

EXERCISE I: COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES CORRECTLY.

1. Inorganic chemistry is concerned ___ any material in which metals are of interest.
2. Organic chemistry is centered ___ compounds of carbon.
3. Analytical chemistry deals ___ determination of the composition of matter.
4. Iron reacts ___ air ___ iron oxide.
5. An example of chemical change is the conversion ___ liquid water ___ solid ___
cooling.
6. The nuclei decay, (to result) ___ the emission of radiation.
7. Compounds result ___ chemical reactions of atoms or molecules.

3 RECOGNISING TEXT STRUCTURE

This text is taken from the entry in McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and
Technology on chemistry and is concerned with the definition and
classification of chemistry.
This type of text is expository – it explains something – and can be
considered as an answer to a particular question, or as having the structure:
FIGURE 1

TOPIC
TEXT
EXPLANATION

The structure of the text can been seen from the following diagram:
20 Chemistry/defining and classifying

FIGURE 2

QUESTION: WHAT IS
CHEMISTRY?

DEFINITION:
[chemistry is] the science
that embraces the
properties...

HISTORY IMPORTANT
 grew out of alchemy CONCEPTS
 Lavoisier as first  isotopes
modern chemist  molecules
 Dalton introduced  chemical reactions
concept of “atom”  bonds
 discovery of  chemical compounds
fundamental
particles

CLASSIFICATION
chemistry

analytical biochemistry inorganic...

EXERCISE II
1. How is chemistry distinguished from:
a) physics?
b) biology?
c) chemical engineering?
2. The author mentions various stages in the development of chemistry. Could
anything be added to this brief history?
3. Name further important concepts in chemistry.
21 English for Chemistry

4 DEFINING AND CLASSIFYING I

4.1 CLASSICAL DEFINITIONS
The most important language act or function in this text is defining, in other
words trying to say or explain what something actually is. Definitions are
extremely important in scientific and technical language, in this case the
definition of subject areas or fields.
The author gives a definition of chemistry in the first paragraph, which we
paraphrase here slightly:
1) Chemistry is a science that embraces the properties, composition, and structure
of matter, the changes in structure and composition that matter undergoes...
This type of definition is called a classical analytical definition. Here is a
further example of a definition of a subject from our text, paraphrased
slightly:
2) Analytical chemistry (S) is a discipline (G) dealing with determination of the
composition of matter and the amount of each component in mixtures of any
kind (D1).
The next example is also taken from the text, and shows a standard definition:
3) An ion (S) is an atom or molecule (G) which has an electric charge (D1).
These examples show that a definition must include the following three
elements:
 S= the word, concept or species to be defined
 G= the general class or genuson the next level that includes S
 D1...Dn = the differentiating feature(s) that allow(s) us to distinguish S
from other members of G
The differentiating features, D1...Dn, provide essential information about S,
usually by answering questions of the following kind:
1. What is S’s purpose/objective?
2. What is its shape/appearance/structure?
3. Where does it come from?
4. What does/can it do?
5. How does it work?
6. What is it composed of?
7. Where is it used/found?
8. When is it used?
22 Chemistry/defining and classifying

These differentiating features express the typical properties of the thing

defined.
Returning to our definition of chemistry, it is a science, i.e. “science” is the
genus. We are then given the objective of chemistry, which is in this case the
differentiating feature. The same applies to “analytical chemistry”, while the
definition of an ion has as genus “atom or molecule” and as differentiating
feature “which has an electric charge”.
Here are some further examples of scientific definitions:
4) Carbon monoxide (S) is a colourless (D 1), almost odourless (D2) gas (G) that is
very poisonous when breathed, as it combines with the haemoglobin of the
blood to form bright red carboxyhaemoglobin (D3). It occurs in the exhaust
fumes of car engines (D4).
5) An acid (S) is a substance (G) that liberates hydrogen ions in solution (D 1),
reacts with a base to form a salt and water only (D 2), has a tendency to lose
protons (D3), and turns litmus red (D4).
6) A neutron (S) is a particle (G) that is a constituent of all atomic nuclei (D 1)
except that of normal hydrogen (D2). The neutron has no electric charge (D3)
and a mass only slightly greater than that of the proton (D4).
1) X-rays (S) are electromagnetic waves (G) of short wavelength (D 1) produced
when high-speed electrons strike a solid target (D2).
The process of defining can be visualised as follows:
FIGURE 3
GENUS

SPECIES
SPECIES SPECIES SPECIES
1
2 3 N
D1.......Dn

Note that the genus must always be at the next level; to say for example that
X-rays are “waves” would not be considered an adequate genus in this
definition.
The differentiating features can be expressed in many different ways, such
as using relative clauses (that is very poisonous...) and participial
constructions (produced when...). Other possibilities are prepositional
phrases (of short wavelength...) and even adjectives (colourless).
23 English for Chemistry

Note the typical combinations of article and species/genus:

1. indefinite article and countablenoun in the singular, e.g. a neutron
1. countable noun in the plural without an article, e.g. X-rays
1. uncountable noun without an article, e.g. carbon monoxide, chemistry
To express the typical differentiating feature of a subject, i.e. the area it
covers, use expressions like the following:
 to deal with
 to be concerned with
 to embrace
 to cover
 to involve
 to be the study of
 to be centred (US centered) on

EXERCISE III
1. Look at the following definition and find the genus, species and differentiating
features:
“Antibiotics are chemical substances produced by micro-organisms, such as moulds
and bacteria, which are capable of destroying bacteria or preventing their growth”.
2. What types of differentiating features are used in the above definition?
3. Define a particular area of chemistry you are familiar with.
4. Give precise analytical definitions of the following:
 proton
 infrared
 thermodynamics
 chromatography
 enzyme
 catalyst
 photosynthesis

4.2 CLASSIFYING
Classifying is closely related to defining, in that it can be used as a basis for
defining. It equally involves the use of genus and differentiating features.
When you classify you start with a genus which is broken down into species,
and these species can of course be further subdivided. The authors break
down chemistry as follows according to the subject-matter of the discipline:
24 Chemistry/defining and classifying

FIGURE 4

CHEMISTRY

analytical organic
biochemistry
chemistry
inorganic
physical

Note that a classification of this type can be used for the purpose of definition:
8) Physical chemistry is a branch of chemistry that deals with the interpretation of
chemical phenomena...

EXERCISE IV
1. What sorts of features are used to differentiate between the different branches of
chemistry?
2. How are bonds classified?
3. What does the author mean by the final sentence?

5 CONNECTORS
In texts there are also certain words or phrases which have a key function in
understanding and producing texts, expressions such as when, thus,
moreover, as, and so on. These connectors as they are called connect clauses
and sentences or link parts of the text. they form a means of structuring the
text.
There are four basic types of connector:
 descriptive connectors
 argumentative connectors
 text structuring connectors
 enumerative connectors
Here is a rough classification of connectors with examples:
25 English for Chemistry

FIGURE 5

CONNECTORS

text connectors sense connectors

structuring enumerative descriptive logical-argumentative

also secondly because so, since

Descriptive connectors describe a relationship between things or ideas, such

as
by, which expresses how something is done, the means, as this example from
the passage shows:
9) ...the conversion of liquid water to solid or gas by cooling or heating...
It is important to remember that by in this use always takes the -ing form.
We can classify descriptive connectors in more detail:
26 Chemistry/defining and classifying

FIGURE 6
DESCRIPTIVE
CONNECTORS

hypothetical,
temporal, e.g. if
causal,
e.g. when
e.g. because
contrastive,
e.g. whereas
concessive,
e.g. although

Another type of connector, the text structuring connector, is used to structure

the text, that is to orientate the reader, to indicate at what position in the text
the reader is. These include expressions such as also, in addition,
furthermore, finally.
Here is another example of a descriptive connector from the text:
10) All isotopes of an element exhibit the same chemical behavior,
although isotopes can be separated on the basis of differences in atomic mass.
This type of connector is called concessive; equivalents are: though, even
though, in spite of (German obwohl).
Another type of connector, the text structuring connector, is used to
structure the text, that is to orientate the reader, to indicate at what position in
the text the reader is. These include expressions such as also, in addition,
moreover, furthermore, finally; here are examples from the text:
11) Synthetic work is directed also to the preparation of large numbers of
compounds for screening as potential drugs and agricultural chemicals.
12) Moreover, there can be many compounds, called isomers, with the same
chemical composition.
The last type of connector is referred to as enumerative, and in a similar way
to the previous one indicates the movement or progression in the text, usually
temporal or logical. Enumerative means that numbers, usually ordinal
numbers, are used to indicate the steps in an argument and so on. It includes
expressions such as first, second(ly).
27 English for Chemistry

There are a wide variety of logical-argumentative connectors with different

functions in English, including therefore, since, but. Let us look at an
example:
13) Inorganic chemistry. This discipline is concerned with any material in which
metals and metalloid elements are of primary interest. Inorganic chemistry is
therefore concerned with the structure, synthesis, and bonding of a very
diverse range of compounds.
Therefore is used for drawing a conclusion. A similar argumentative
connector in English is so.
But (translated into German as aber, sondern, doch, jedoch, depending on the
context) is another connector which has a logical-argumentative use:
14) Originally these were the compounds isolated from plant and animal sources,
but the term was very early broadened to include all compounds in which a
linear or cyclic carbon chain is the main feature.
But is used here to show that the normal conclusion that one would draw,
namely so organic chemistry deals with compounds from these sources,
should not be drawn; this use is called anti-implicative.

EXERCISE V
1. Summarise the first half of the passage (up to paragraph 12) in your own words,
reducing it to about a quarter of its original length. Make sure to use the
appropriate connectors.