ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY - by Tomás A. Mateus

ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS This handout belongs to _____________________________________________________________________________ Designed by Tomás A. Mateus.. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, September, 2019 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS This booklet was especially designed for university students in order to master their academic writing proficiency. Furthermore, university teachers may find it useful for their lectures (so that they can help their leaners or students with regard to academic writing). In this booklet we are going to find some key aspects of academic grammar and academic vocabulary. However, in order to succeed in academic phraseology. It is also highly advisable to follow some Features of Academic Writing (please, download it). The sentences or sentence fragments below can be used in your academic papers. You can adapt or adopt them. You can add some other words. In sum, you are meant to follow some grammar points in order to make your pieces of writing readable, accurate, and coherent. ACADEMIC PHRASES: The Grammar of Academic Writing The phrases below will help you to achieve accuracy, fluency, cohesion, and coherence in your writing assignments. Most significantly, they will also help you to provide convincing arguments for your paper. Whenever you are writing an academic paper, try to get plugged in to these phrases. Being so, in this handout we are going to find several types of phrases – 1 ‘groups of words without a finite verb (i.e. that shows a particular tense, person and number) 2 which are part of, rather than the whole of, a sentence or especially ones that form parts of a sentence’, or ‘groups of words which are often used together and have a particular meaning’. There are several types of phrases such as: adjectival / adjective phrase (It is crucial / essential that …, consistent in, familiar with, with the strenuous / tremendous effort, without the appropriate context); adverbial / adverb phrase (almost independently, more/most importantly/significantly, in an effective and efficient fashion/manner/way; in this place; the following day, etc. ); noun phrase (the fact / point / question is that …); prepositional phrase We would like to differentiate a phrase from a clause and sentence. Being so, a phrase can be a single word or a group of words which form grammatical units. Phrases are the parts of a clause or they form clauses. A clause has been referred to as a group of words that has a subject and a verb, and forms a sentence or part of a sentence. A clause comprises two parts/elements: a subject and a predicate. There are main/independent clauses (= those which are of equal importance and can each exist as a separate sentence) and subordinate/dependent clauses (= those which are not equal to the main part of the sentence and cannot exist as a separate sentence because they depend on another clause to complete their meaning). There are finite and non-finite clauses. The main types of finite clauses are: declarative clauses, imperative clauses, interrogative clauses, and exclamatory clauses. The main types of non-finite clauses are: infinitive clauses (To be (perfectly) honest, …; To develop vocabulary, …); participle clauses (Being a teacher, I believe in higher standards of education; Considered as a whole, students are like family), and verbless/’reduced’ clauses (When in good condition, classes are enjoyable; If in doubt, …; Whenever possible, …). A sentence has been described as a set of words that expresses a complete thought in the form of a statement, an exclamation, a question or an order/command, that usually contains a subject and a verb (i.e. a subject + a finite verb form). In written English sentences begin with a capital letter and end with a full stop / period (.), a question mark (?) or an exclamation mark / exclamation point (!). Sentences are composed of clauses. Sentences are also categorized into: simple sentence (with one finite verb and one single idea: Learners study English); compound sentence (with two or more finite verbs/main clauses linked to a coordinating conjunctions ‘and, but, or etc.’: Learners study English and write their theses); and complex sentence (with a main clause + a subordinate clause linked to subordinating conjunctions ‘after, although, as if/though, before, however, if, since, when, while, etc.’: If teachers teach connectors explicitly, students can learn them effectively). 1 2 Non-finite verb forms are: infinitive and participle (-ed participle or -ing participle). For example ‘am’, ‘is’, ‘are’, ‘was’ and ‘were’ are the finite forms of ‘be’; but ‘being’, and ‘been’ are the non-finite forms because they do not show a particular tense, person or number. They can be a main clause or subordinate clause. Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 2 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS (apart from, by means of, in regard to, on account of, etc.), and verbal / verb phrase (It should be ascertained that …; It must be ascertained if/whether …; summing up, etc.). In general terms, a phrase can never stand alone, because it is, typically, part of a sentence. For this very reason, a phrase is widely referred to as ‘sentence fragment’, or simply ‘fragment’. With regard to clauses, they are largely classified in the following way: adjectival / relative clauses (i.e. it usually starts with who, which, that, whom, and whose: The thesis that deals with connectors is felt to be of overriding importance); adverbial clauses (i.e. or subordinate clauses, they function as adverbs. They may be categorized this way: adverbial clauses of concession, condition, manner, place, purpose, reason, result, and time); comment clauses (e.g. as you/we know, as we have said before, as previously established / mentioned / stated, sociolinguistically speaking,…); comparative clauses (e.g. as + adjective/adverb + as necessary/possible/usual; as + adjective/adverb + as ever; as + adjective/adverb + as you can); noun clauses (i.e. they perform the same functions as nouns. Sometimes they are called cleft sentences: What amazes students most is the fact that some teachers help them so much.); relative clauses (i.e. defining/restrictive and non-defining/non-restrictive relative clauses ‘with relative pronouns [who, whom, which, that, whose]’: This is the major problem which students are facing nowadays; The major problem, which students are facing nowadays, is to write an academic paper.). We can also have if-clauses, -ing-clauses, it-clauses, that-clauses, wh-clauses, etc., that is, according to their focus or beginnings. It does not necessarily mean that we are not going to talk about some clauses or sentences. Actually, as we are well aware of it, phrases are part of sentences. In this handout we are going to focus on 11 topics felt to be extremely important for academic writing skills: sentence fragments, signposting, reporting verbs, collocational structures, passive structures, it-patterns, there-structures, that-structures, noun + that structures, subjunctive structures, and focus structures. A very small number of phrases or structures are used mainly in informal or spoken English. However, an overwhelming number of structures are mostly used in written or formal (academic) language. It is just a matter of using them in a more contextualized setting. Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 3 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS  Sentence Fragments a) Phrases without a subject (you can put your own subject) … appears / seems to be concerned mainly with … … are / is critically / highly/ internationally / widely acclaimed (as a ) … … are / is generally / universally / widely acknowledged … are / is generally / widely considered to be … ◊ … are widely regarded as … … are all interconnected / interlinked / interrelated … can be defined / described / referred to / understood / viewed as … | … could be defined / described / referred to / understood / viewed as … | … may be defined / described / referred to / understood / viewed as … (This is language for defining terminology) … has / have been generally / widely / usually / still regarded / considered / seen / viewed / reckoned as … … is / appears (to be) apparently / seemingly / very minor / trivial / insignificant / unimportant … is / are beyond / within your ability / capability / capacity / power … is / are generally / usually regarded / considered / seen / viewed / perceived as … … is addressed mainly to … … is based on the fact that … … is closely akin to … … is closely tied to … … is generally / universally / widely regarded as … ◊ … is commonly / popularly / usually / conventionally / traditionally regarded as … ◊ … is legitimately / properly / reasonably / rightly regarded as … ◊ …is highly / well regarded as … … is held to be … | … has / have been held to be … … is not necessarily synonymous with … … is understood as … … is understood to mean … b) Miscellaneous Phrases (you can add what you need) … as its / the term indicates / suggests, … … as its name indicates / suggests, … … as the name indicates / suggests, … … but the fact of the matter is (that) … | … but the fact remains that … | … but it remains true that … … Equally important is the fact that … … incongruous with the context ◊ … synonymous with X … interrelated activities / issues / problems | peripheral activities / details / developments / information … so commonplace in the spoken language that … … unfounded / unsubstantiated allegations / assertions / claims … widely heralded statement, … …, as asserted / described / indicated / noted / pinpointed / pointed out / remarked / suggested / supported by X … and that it accounted for a significantly high proportion of learner errors in … … of considerable / critical / crucial / decisive / fundamental / special / outstanding / overriding / overwhelming / paramount / the utmost / vital importance (for sb/sth; to sb) / (that) … … of considerable / deep / enormous / great / immense / major / profound / the utmost significance (for sb/sth, to sb) … of little / no significance … on the grounds / basis / pretext of …◊ on the grounds / basis / pretext that … A factor that has been considered to have been confounded by … A law / principle / rule / theorem / theory states that … A number of researchers (X, 2012; Y, 2015; Z, 2017) have extended the results of … A series of reports (X, 2002; Y, 2009; Z, 2011) document that … An abundance of empirical evidence has emerged / revealed / shown that … An analysis of the use of X would need to be undertaken strategically and would be a labour-intensive task. Are the terms synonymous? If so, why have two terms for the same notion? If not, wherein lies the difference? Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 4 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS As it has been already mentioned, … As it is clearly observed in the studies investigating the … As mentioned at the outset of this paper, … As might be expected, … As time has gone by, … As we observed earlier, … At one end of the spectrum, … At the other end of the spectrum, … At one level … at another level … | On the one hand, … on the other hand, … Authors have been deliberately sought, as widely as possible, the … Based on the concepts stated above, researchers have conducted empirical studies on / upon … Before all of that could happen, however, there had to be the … Both X and Y share the commonality of … Building on this point, … Considered from this point of view, … ◊ After considering the evidence, many people conclude that … Considered from this/that point of view/perspective, we could notice/see that … Critical Thinking (CT) can be summarized by core activities: analysis (interpretation), evaluation, and further argument. It is characterised by being fair and open-minded, active and informed, sceptical (= a willingness to question or entertain doubt. it is no cynicism), and independent. Drawing on/upon Scovel’s findings, … Due to unforeseen circumstances, … | Owing to unforeseen circumstances, … Factors affecting / influencing … Far less frequently do students look / pay attention to … Figures demonstrate / illustrate / indicate / prove / show sth | Studies demonstrate / illustrate / indicate / prove / show sth | Research demonstrates / illustrates / indicates / proves / shows sth For a fuller discussion of …, see Appendix A, Chapter 2, Figure 1, Table 7, etc. For additional / further information, please, see Chapter 1 in Section 1.3 For further details, see Chart 5, Section 3, Subsection 2.1.5. For reasons best known to myself / herself / himself / yourself / ourselves / yourselves / themselves, … For some inexplicable reason / for some odd reason / for some strange reason / for some unfathomable reason, … For unexplained reasons / for unknown reasons, … For whatever reasons, … From a practical standpoint = from a practical point of view From all that has been said / mentioned / stated above, it may be surmised that … / It can be deduced from the above that … From the outset it is worth noting that there is plenty of evidence to show that … From the perspective of … ◊ From the point of view of intelligence, … ◊ From the standpoint of three questions ◊ From a purely biblical / grammatical / linguistic viewpoint, … From a different / economic / historical / legal / linguistic / medical / personal / political / practical / social perspective, point of view, standpoint ○ from this / that standpoint ○ To approach/view sth from … standpoint ○ To consider / look at / see sth from … point of view From this evidence we have chosen the most useful strategies / techniques for … | We have picked out the most important patterns … Having scratched the surface of the above claims and counterclaims, it goes without saying that … In a more recent set of studies, … In addition to the above studies, there has been ample body of evidence that … In its purest form, X focuses directly / heavily / largely / mainly / mostly / narrowly / particularly / primarily / solely / specifically on/upon … In pursuit of this goal, we will/shall be bound up in … ◊ To this end, this chapter will be bound up with … In the light of the (new) evidence that … | On this matter, … In the same vein / in a similar vein (= similarly), … Most notably, … ◊ More / Most importantly / significantly, … Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 5 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS Needless to say (= as you / we would expect; as you may well be aware (of this/that); obviously; not surprisingly), … No evidence has been found that … No matter how obvious it seems / may seem, … No one is exempt from … Now that we have seen … (now) let us turn to/move on to … On the balance of probabilities/evidence, … = on a balance of probabilities/evidence, … One might infer, then, that there is general acceptance of the idea that … One of several criteria that should be considered/taken into account when deciding what to focus on, such as learners’ needs, difficulty, teachability, suitability for the age, and background of the learners Previous research has illustrated a number of challenges … Problems with … are prevalent regardless of the proficiency of the learners Regardless of the definitions used by researchers, we are going to use them interchangeably or synonymous with … Scrutinizing the literature in this concern, it is observable that … Strange as it may/might seem, … Teachers’ hearts may sink to think that … The / these findings imply that … The accompanying percentage/graph/table reveals / shows that … The answer to this question is deceptively straightforward (= more straightforward than it looks). The argument they advance rests on the following premises: The chances / probability / odds / likelihood is/are that … The chapter outlines the various meanings that have been ascribed to these terms, and discusses their role in … The disadvantage / downside / drawback is that … The following is a brief description of my findings and recommendations. The likelihood / probability is that … ◊ There is every likelihood that …◊ in all likelihood … The plan / suggestion has been laid / put on the table (= discussed, under discussion) The prime objective of this study is to garner a greater understanding of … The problem/difficulty/trouble lies in sth | This/that is where X comes in. The term X has been defined in different ways. A common definition is strictly frequencybased and is commonly used by … The test may be said to lack face validity The upside is that ... This finding lends support to the view that … This is generally regarded as … This issue has been under-researched… This may be one reason why … This review focuses broadly on ... This theory is underpinned by the assumptions of … To be (fully, thoroughly; reasonably; already) / become / grow familiar with sb/sth = to be acquainted with sb/sth; to be cognizant of sth; to be conversant with sth; to be / get / grow used to sth; to be / get / grow used to doing sth; to be / get / grow accustomed to sth; to be / get / grow accustomed to doing sth; to be up to date with sth; to have (little, nodding) acquaintance with sb/sth; to take cognizance of sth (law) To complicate matters, … To consider / find / reckon / see sb/sth to be sth To declare / proclaim /pronounce / state sb/sth to be sth To depend on/upon sb/sth = to base on/upon sth; to be based on sth; to be conditional on/upon sth; to be contingent on/upon sth; to be founded on sth; to be grounded in sth, to be predicated on sth; to found on sth; to hinge on/upon sth; to rely on/upon sb/sth; to rest on/upon sb/sth To establish / identify / determine / ascertain what / how / when / where / why /whether… To express / voice / air your thoughts / opinions / views / concerns on … To make the situation worse, … ◊ To make matters worse, … To propagate the belief that … To put it more straightforwardly, … Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 6 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS To regard / consider / see / view / perceive sb/sth as ... ◊ To regard / consider / see / view / perceive sb/sth from a particular point of view To regard / consider / see / view / perceive sb/sth favourably / unfavourably To the best of my/our ability, … To the best of my/our knowledge and belief, … To their grief / regret / sorrow, … To voice a concern / a disagreement / a doubt / a feeling / hope / an objection / an opinion / a skepticism / a theory Unlikely as it sounds, … ◊ Unlikely as it may sound, … Until recently, most research has been focused on/upon … We are able to unambiguously match X with Y We form clusters of items that are hypothesized to hang together … What is particularly noteworthy from an educational perspective is that … What is really striking is that … ◊ What is really striking is the fact that … Whatever you conclude, remember that there are certain things we may not know. With this end in view (= in order to achieve this), … X has also come to be used for … X has been surrounded by a cacophony of strategies, to an extent that … X has heightened awareness of the issue X has subscribed to the view that … X is considered / counted / described / identified / regarded / seen / viewed as … X is of the belief / opinion / view (that) … X is often conceptualized as the ... c) It-Phrases (Anticipatory / Preparatory It) It / that seems very unlikely (that …) It also discussed essential facets of … It can be understood that … It does not appear / seem improbable that … It draws heavily on/upon … It eschews X and/but emphasizes Y It follows that … (= conclui-se que …) It has been / It is argued / asserted / claimed / contended / maintained / said that … (opposing opinion from another source) It has been accepted for many years that … It has been heralded as ... It has been proposed / suggested that ... It implies that …◊ It has little, often nothing, to do with … It is (not) beyond the bounds of possibility that … It is / had been put forward / mooted that … It is / has been affirmed / alleged / argued / asserted / claimed / contended / maintained that … It is / has been based on the premise that… | It is / has been premised on/upon the assumption that… It is / has been considered that … It is / has been recommended / advised / advocated / urged that … ◊ It is strongly recommended that … ◊ It has strongly been recommended that … It is / seems / appears to be reasonable to assume (that) … ◊ It is generally assumed that … ◊ It has generally been assumed that … It is / was (generally) acknowledged / admitted / conceded / granted / recognized that… It is a matter / a question of + -ing form/ noun: It is just a matter of reading critically. ◊ It is a question of ethical principles It is a theoretical possibility. | It is theoretically possible for sb to do …, but highly unlikely It is a well-known / little-known fact that… | It is a widely accepted fact that … It is a well-known fact that … It is also hypothesized that … ◊ It has (also) been hypothesized that … It is also underlined that … It is always necessary to have regard to the key terms/concepts of this relevant issue It is an obstacle that hinders / hampers … It is claimed, or tacitly assumed that … Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 7 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS It is critical / crucial / essential / imperative / vital to do sth It is difficult to be prescriptive about … It is expected that the results of this study can be used to enhance teacher awareness regarding… It is felt to be particularly relevant to … It is for this reason that … It is important to bear in mind/keep in mind/remember (that) | It is worth/worthwhile bearing / keeping in mind / remembering (that) … It is inferred from the above table that … It is intended primarily for … It is intended to be a pedagogically manageable body of learning to which learners should pay special attention. It is largely based upon … It is logical /plausible to suppose that … It is logical to assume that … It is nevertheless a tenable point of view that … It is now generally accepted that … It is now widely accepted that … It is obvious from the incontrovertible arguments presented above that … It is reported to have … | X is / was reported to be/have …. It is strongly recommended that … It is taken for granted that it is a good thing, … ◊ the importance of X and Y have been taken for granted. It is the second definition that best suits the focus of this paper. It is theorized that … It is widely acknowledged, nonetheless, that … It is worth concluding that … It is worth conjecturing / guessing / surmising that … It is worth deducing / inferring / reasoning that … It lends support to the premise that … It may be / could be / might be argued / asserted / claimed / contended / maintained / said that … (your own opposing opinion) It must also be remembered that … It must be stressed that … It relies heavily on/upon … It seems (to be) clear that...; it appears / sounds (to be) clear that … It seems / looks / sounds / feels as if/as though … | It seems / appears that… It seems logical that … | It stands to reason that … It seems/sounds (absolutely) critical / crucial / essential / imperative / indispensable / vital that …| It is/seems (a bit / a little / fairly / very / extremely) unfortunate that … It should (also) be borne in mind that … / It is necessary to bear in mind that … / Bearing this in mind, … / It should be remembered that … It should be clear from the foregoing that … ◊ It should be clear from this list that … It should be emphasized that ... ◊ It should be made clear to the students that … ◊ It should be noted that ... ◊ It should be stressed / underscored that … It should be noticed that … ◊ It should be pointed out that … It sounds as though students are tailor-made for this subject It strikes us that … ◊ We were struck by thought that … It tends to be pervasive, persistent, and insidious It was a purely hypothetical question | We shall provide a hypothetical example. | Let us take the hypothetical case of … It was announced / declared / indicated / proclaimed / stated that… It was ascertained / discovered / established / found that … It was certified / confirmed / proposed / verified that … It was established / ascertained that… | It should be ascertained that … | It has since been established that … It was somewhat predictable that … It would be no exaggeration to say that … ◊ There exists / has been nowadays a yawning gap between X and Y ◊ The first chapter concerns / is concerned with … ◊ This issue will be dealt with/discussed in more detail in Chapter 2 Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 8 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS It would be reckless / irresponsible / premature / unwise / rash to do sth. | You would be unwise to do sth It would be tantamount to admitting that … Its main tenet is that … d) There-Phrases (Referential and Non-referential There) There appears to be a widespread dissatisfaction with … There appears to be divine source behind … There are cases that … | There are times when ... | There comes a time when … | There are instances where we have been unable to … There has been considerable discussion of … There has been growing interest in … There has been little research done / undertaken to investigate the … There has been much intellectual debate on … There has been no shortage of speculation about … There have to be some grounds for … There is (no) deficiency / lack / shortage / scarcity of … There is (no) possibility / chance / prospect / likelihood of -ing form: There is a reasonable prospect that … | There is very little likelihood of + -ing form | There is a real / reasonable possibility / chance / probability / prospect / likelihood of / that … | There is a strong possibility / chance / probability / likelihood of / that … | There is a high chance / probability / likelihood of / that … | There is a realistic / serious / remote possibility / chance / prospect of / that … | There is every possibility / chance / probability / prospect / likelihood of / that … | There is little chance / prospect / likelihood of / that … There is / has been ample evidence that … There is often a medium ground / trade-off between A and B There is / was a large measure of agreement between the experts /scholars on … There is a (gentle/little/subtle/vague) hint that … / There is a (broad/clear/heavy/not-sosubtle/obvious/strong) hint that … / There are (dark/early/tantalizing) hints that … There is a (n) long-standing / unshakable / unwavering / widespread belief that … There is a clear link between A and B There is a commonly-held / deeply-held / deep-rooted / deep-seated / long-held / stronglyheld / widely-held belief that … | There is a widely-held assumption / belief / perception / view that … | There is a widespread commonality of views as to what … There is a growing / increasing understanding of … There is a growing number of studies on … There is a strongly / deeply / widely held view on … ◊ There has been a strongly / deeply / widely held view on … There is an extensive body of research on … There is an increasing acceptance of … There is little research that takes account of … There is no easy / simple / straightforward answer for … There is some acknowledgement that … There is some commonality of assumptions / beliefs / criticisms / ideas / theories / viewpoints / views about … ◊ There is some commonality of assumptions (about) / beliefs (about) / criticisms (against/for/of/over) / ideas (behind/for/of) / points of view (on) / theories (about) / viewpoints (about) / views (according to/on) … There is some evidence that … There is unchallenged evidence that … ◊ There is a great deal of uncertainty about (the) … There is widespread support for … There may seemingly be reasons for / behind … There seems to be a dearth of … There seems to be a widespread belief that … Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 9 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS  Signposting: Large-scale Signposting After having analysed / centred around / concentrated on / considered / dealt with / discussed / elaborated upon / examined / looked at/into / proposed / propounded / suggested X, we shall now consider … / let us now move on to…/ let us now turn to … / now we are going to … After analyzing / considering / dealing with / discussing / examining / focusing upon X, we shall / will / are now going to … All these aspects or items are / were extensively / largely analysed / discussed in the aforementioned / aforesaid sections/subsections (Sections / Subsections X, Y, and Z). As asserted / discussed / established / hypothesized / mentioned / noted / pointed out / stated / suggested / synthesized above, … As asserted / discussed / established / hypothesized / mentioned / noted / pointed out / stated / suggested / synthesized before, … As asserted / discussed / established / hypothesized / mentioned / noted / pointed out / stated / suggested / synthesized earlier, … As asserted / discussed / elaborated upon / established / hypothesized / highlighted / mentioned / noted / pointed out / proposed / stated / stressed / suggested / summarized / supported / synthesized / underscored / underlined by X, … As it is mentioned by other scholars / experts / specialists, … ◊ As it has been mentioned by other scholars / experts / specialists, … we can conclude / deduce / summarise that … As previously asserted / discussed / established / mentioned / noted / pointed out / stated / suggested, etc. … ◊ As established / mentioned / noted etc. previously, … As the aforementioned / aforesaid Chapter / Section / Subsection (e.g. (Chapter/Section/Subsection X, Y, and Z) asserts / establishes / points out / states, we can infer / surmise that … As was already said, … ◊ As was said above, … ◊ As (already) said beforehand, … As we discussed / established / observed earlier (in Chapter / Section / Subsection X), … As we have discussed / established / observed / seen earlier (in Chapter / Section / Subsection X), … As we shall discuss / establish / observe / see later (in Chapter / Section / Subsection X), … From what we have considered / seen above, it could / should be emphasized / highlighted here that … ◊ it could / should be ascertained that … ◊ it must be ascertained if / what / whether / when … Given the discussion held above, we have concluded that … Having analysed / centred around / concentrated on / concluded / considered / dealt with / defined / described / discussed / elaborated upon / enlarged upon / examined / expanded upon / focused upon / looked at/into / presented / proposed / propounded / reviewed / suggested / summarized X, we shall now consider … / let us now move on to…/ let us now turn to … / now we are going to … Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 10 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS In Chapter / Section / Subsection X, we have analysed / discussed / examined / proposed / seen … In the aforementioned / aforesaid Chapter / Section / Subsection, it has been concluded / deduced / inferred that … In the following Chapter / Section / Subsection, we shall deal with / delve into / discuss / examine / look at / propose … In the previous / foregoing / preceding Chapter / Section / Subsection, we dealt with / delved into / discussed / examined / looked at / proposed …, but in this Chapter / Section / Subsection, we will consider / deal with / speak of / talk about … In this Chapter / Section / Subsection, we shall analyse / look at/into / come up with / put forward … Let us now focus on / upon … ◊ Now, let us consider / look at …◊ Let us concentrate (mainly, mostly, particularly, predominantly, primarily) on …◊ We are now going to turn our attention/focus to …◊ Now, we are going to centre around/round … ◊ At this point, we will delve into / discuss / examine / look into / probe into … ◊ Thus, we are meant to centre on/upon … ◊ Let us concentrate our attention / focus / mind on …◊ In this chapter we shall confine/devote our undivided attention to … Now, attention is / will be / is going to be focused on / directed at / turned to sb/sth On analyzing / discussing / examining X, we should take into account / consideration Y Taking X into account/consideration, Y has been described as / has been referred to as … Talking about X ◊ Speaking of /about X, … The following Chapter / Section / Subsection will be about … The previous / preceding Chapter / Section / Subsection was about … Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 11 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS  Reporting Verbs or Introductory Verbs X concerns … / (directly, specifically) deals with … / centres around, round … / centre on, upon … / focuses on, upon … / has (directly, specifically) to do with … / is (directly, specifically) about … / is (directly, specifically) concerned with … / is (directly, specifically) to do with … / refers to …/ (directly, specifically) relates to … / revolves around/round … X (2017) (strongly) agrees / disagrees that … X (2017) alleges / insists / protests that … X (2017) believes / thinks that … X (2017) claims that … X (2017) comments that … (p. 25) X (2017) concedes that … (pp. 5-7, cited in Mateus, 2016, 12) X (2017) concludes that … X (2017) contends that … X (2017) postulates / presumes / presupposes / speculates that … X (2017, cited in Mateus, 2016, p. 37) adds / maintains that … X (2017, p. 10, quoted in Mateus, 2016, pp. xii-xv) affirms / asserts / avers / points out / says / states that … X (2017, p. 18) (strongly) argues that … X went on to suggest, in a way, that … X confirms / verifies / certifies / bears out / testifies / attests that … (2017, pp. 1, 3, 8, 11) X notes / observes / remarks that … (2017) X opines / takes the view that … (2017, p. 10) X points out / highlights /draws attention to / points to / points up the fact that … X proposes / propounds / suggests that … (2017, pp. 11, 14) X recommends / advises / advocates / urges that … X stresses / emphasizes / underlines / underscores the fact that … REPORTING VERBS + THAT + MAIN IDEA These reporting verbs can be followed immediately by ‘that’: accepts, acknowledges, adds, admits, advises, advocates, affirms, announces, agrees, alleges, argues, asserts, assumes, attests, avers, avows, bears out, believes, certifies (certify), checks, claims, comments, complains, comprehends, concedes, concludes, confesses, confirms, considers, contends, decides, declares, deems, demonstrates, denies (deny), detects, determines, discloses, discovers, doubts, emphasises / emphasizes, ensures, envisages, envisions, estimates, explains, feels, finds, finds out, grants, grasps, guarantees, holds, hypothesises / hypothesizes, imagines, implies (imply), indicates, infers, informs, insists, is of the belief / opinion / view (that…), knows, maintains, makes sure, mentions, moves, Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 12 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS notes, notices, observes, object, opines, perceives, pledges, points out, postulates, predicates, predicts, presumes, presupposes, pretends, proclaims, professes, promises, pronounces, proposes, propounds, protests, proves, reasons, reasons out, realises / realizes, reckons, recognises / recognizes, recommends, remarks, reports, requests, restates, reveals, says, sees, sees to it, shares the view, shows, specifies (specify), speculates, spells out, spots, states, stresses, suggests, supposes, swears, takes in, takes the view, testifies (testify), thinks, theorises / theorizes, understands, urges, verifies (verify), vows, warns N.B.: Before using these verbs in your writing consult a dictionary to know their appropriate meaning and other aspects related to their usage so that you can convey the exact idea to your reader. Cacumba (2014) acknowledged that reading plays a significant role in students’ personal, academic, and professional life. Chomsky’s theory (2007) holds that … Harmer (2007, p. 12) cements this point by saying (that) … Krashen (1982) reasons out that … X (1994) has shown that … Y (2016) wisely points out that it may be advisable to use an ‘eclectic approach’. Z (2007) and Y (2012) have demonstrated that … REPORTING VERBS + SOMETHING/SOMEONE + CONNECTING WORD (e.g. as, because, by, in terms of, for, that) These reporting verbs cannot be followed immediately by ‘that’: advocates (for), alerts, analyses, appraises, applauds, assesses, assures, blames, casts light on, challenges, characterises / characterizes, congratulates, classifies (classify), criticises / criticizes, defines, demonstrates, defends, describes, discusses, depicts, encourages, endorses, evaluates, examines, expresses, faults, identifies (identify), illustrates, interprets, investigates, notifies (notify), objects (to), portrays, praises, presents, puts forward, questions, refers, refutes, rejects, sheds light on, studies (study), substantiates, supports, takes issue with, throws light on, validates, verifies (verify), views N.B.: Before using these verbs in your writing consult a dictionary to know their appropriate meaning and other aspects related to their usage so that you can convey the exact idea to your reader. Mateus (2016) refutes the claim made by some authors that there is no point in using connectors in pieces of writing. Studies by Ur (1996, 2012) highlight the disadvantages in terms of . . . Research by Dörnyei et al. (2012) validates the argument that . . . Scovel (1998) endorses this view arguing that … Sipata (2015) sheds some light on the problem of teaching of collocations that teachers might be encouraged to use explicit or implicit teaching. Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 13 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS  Some Collocational Structures Adjectives + Prepositions (preposition + gerund or infinitive; adjective + that …) abusive to/towards sb accommodating / obliging to sb accustomed to sth | accustomed to doing sth acquainted with sth adequate to do sth | adequate for sth advantageous to sb advisable to do sth alert to sth annoyed about / at sth | annoyed with sb apologetic about sth applicable to sb/sth apprehensive about / of sth | apprehensive that … appropriate to do sth | appropriate to/ for sth | appropriately enough,… ashamed of sb/sth associated with sth attributable to sb / sth aware / cognizant / conscious / mindful of sth | aware / mindful of sb | aware / conscious / mindful that … | conscious of doing sth baffling / bewildering / confusing / inexplicable / puzzling to sb | baffling / bewildering / confusing / puzzling for sb | baffling / bewildering / confusing / incomprehensible / inexplicable / puzzling that … beneficial to sth/sb | beneficial for sth brazen / presumptuous of sb certain about / of sth challenging / demanding / hard / taxing for sb | hard to do sth characteristic of sb/sth | typical of sb/sth; typical for sb/sth | uncharacteristic of sb | untypical of sb/sth committed to sth | committed to doing sth competent to do sth | competent at/in sth competitive with sb/sth complimentary about sth composed of sth concerned about / for sth (= worried about sb/sth) concerned with sth (= interested in sth; related to sth) conducive to sth confused about sth confusing to sth connected with sb/sth convenient to do sth | convenient for sb/sth | convenient for sb to do sth | convenient that … critical of sb/sth cynical about sth damaging to sb/sth dedicated to sth defenceless (BrE), defenseless (AmE) / helpless against sth | helpless with sth (= ‘unable to control a strong feeling’) detrimental to sb/sth different from/to sb/sth | distinct from sth difficult for sb | difficult to do sth | difficult for sb to do sth | … notoriously difficult for … disadvantageous to / for sb disappointed in / with sb disapproving of sb/sth dismissive of sb/sth dissimilar from / to sb/sth distinguishable from sb/sth divorced from sb / sth eager / keen / anxious / hungry / avid / impatient for sth | eager / enthusiastic / keen / anxious /impatient to do sth | eager / keen / anxious that… Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 14 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS easy / plain sailing / simple / straightforward for sb | easy / painless / plain sailing / simple / straightforward to do sth effective / efficient in sth | effective / efficient in doing sth embarrassed about / at sth | embarrassed to do sth enslaved to equal / identical / tantamount to sth essential to do sth | essential to / for sth | essential (that …) essential / vital / crucial / critical / decisive / indispensable for sth | essential / vital / crucial / critical / indispensable to sth exasperated with sb experienced in sth expert at / in sth | expert at / in doing sth exposed / open / vulnerable to attack, criticism, etc. familiar with sth | familiar to sb favourable (BrE), favorable (AmE) to / for sb/sth filled with sth friendly to / towards sb frustrated at / with sth full of sth guilty about / of sth handy for sth | handy for doing sth | handy about sth (= ‘good at doing things which need skilled use of the hands’) | handy with sth (= ‘able to use something skilfully’) harmful to sb/sth harmless to sb/sth hazardous to sth helpful for sb | helpful (for sb) to do sth | helpful in doing sth | helpful to sb identical / interchangeable / synonymous with sth important to do sth | important to sb | important for sb to do sth | relatively / comparatively unimportant inadequate to do sth | inadequate for sth inadvisable for sb | inadvisable to do sth | inadvisable for sb to do sth inappropriate to do sth | inappropriate for sb/sth | inappropriate to / for sth | inappropriate for sb to do sth incompetent to do sth | incompetent in sth incomprehensible to sb inconvenient for sb to do sth incredulous of sb/sth | incredulous about sth indispensable to sb | indispensable for / to sth | indispensable for doing sth indistinguishable from sth ineffective / inefficient / counterproductive for sb/sth | ineffective / ineffectual as sth | ineffective / inefficient in/at doing sth inexperienced in sth | inexperienced to do sth innocent of sth insensitive to sb/sth insufficient to do sth | insufficient for sth intelligible to sb interested in sb/sth | interested in doing sth | interested to do sth invaluable (= ‘extremely valuable or useful’) to / for sb/sth | invaluable in sth involved in sb/sth | involved with sb/sth irrelevant / immaterial / extraneous / inapplicable to sth | To be irrelevant / immaterial / beside the point whether… | To be irrelevant / immaterial that… irritated at / by / with sth | irritated with sb knowledgeable about sth loyal / dedicated / faithful / committed / true to sb/sth married to sb mindless of sb/sth necessary to do sth | necessary for sb/sth | necessary that … oblivious / blind to sth offensive to sb peripheral to sth preferable to sth | preferable to doing sth | preferable to do sth Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 15 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS professional in sth proficient in / at sth | proficient in / at doing sth receptive to sth related to sb/sth relevant / applicable / pertinent / material to sb/sth | relevant / applicable / pertinent / material for sb/sth | relevant / pertinent to do sth reluctant to do sth responsible for sb/sth | responsible for doing sth | BUT responsible to sb/sth (= ‘to have to report to sb/sth with authority or in a higher position and explain to them what you have done’): The candidates are responsible to their tutors. responsive to sb / sth safe / secure from sth satisfied with sb /sth sceptical (BrE) / skeptical (AmE) of sb/sth | sceptical / skeptical about sth | sceptical / skeptical as to sth scornful of sb/sth sensitive to / towards sb/sth similar to sb/sth | similar in sth skilled in / at sth | skilled in / at doing sth successful in sth | successful in doing sth | successful at sth | successful at doing sth suitable to do sth | suitable for sb/sth surprised at / by sb | surprised at / by sth suspicious of sb/sth | suspicious about sth | suspicious as to sth sympathetic to / towards sb/sth tactful about sth tire of sb/sth | tired of doing sth To be counterproductive / ineffective / inefficient / self-defeating to do sth To be important / significant for/to sb/sth | To be important / significant / notable that… unaware / oblivious / ignorant of sth | oblivious to sth | unconscious of sb/sth | unaware that … uncommitted to sth unconcerned about / by sth (= not anxious or worried about sth) unconcerned with sb/sth (= not interested in sb/sth) unconnected to / with sth unfamiliar with sth | unfamiliar to sb unfavourable for / to sth unfriendly to / towards sb unharmed / unscathed / unhurt by sth unhelpful / obstructive to sth unintelligible to sb unrelated to sth unsuitable for sb/sth unsympathetic to sb/sth unwilling to do sth useful to do sth | useful to sb | useful for sth | useful for doing sth useless to do sth | useless doing sth | useless at sth | useless at doing sth valuable to/for sb/sth willing to do sth Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 16 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS Adjectives + Nouns: Modifiers a / an (completely, totally) unfounded / groundless / unsubstantiated / unsupported allegation / assertion / claim academic / careful / considerable / current / cutting-edge / detailed / earlier / educational / empirical / exhaustive / existing / experimental / extensive / further / future / graduate / groundbreaking / historical / in-depth / innovative / latest / linguistic / medical / meticulous / new / ongoing / painstaking / pioneering / present / previous / prior / recent / rigorous / scholarly ( esp. AmE ) / scientific / social / thorough / undergraduate research alternative / bold / competing / plausible /scientific / speculative / testable / working hypothesis alternative / classical / conflicting / critical / economic / evolutionary / general / linguistic / modern / new / probability / scientific / social / structuralist theory brief / careful / close / comparative / comprehensive / critical / detailed / in-depth / linguistic / objective / serious / strategic / systematic / theoretical / thorough analysis careful / case / close / comparative / current / comprehensive / detailed / earlier / empirical / experimental / feasibility / field / future / groundbreaking / historical / in-depth / intensive / linguistic / literary / longitudinal / new / preliminary / present / previous / recent / scientific / serious / sociological / systematic / theoretical study =◊= absolute accuracy, agony, agreement, angel, antithesis, assurance, astonishment, authority, autonomy, bargain, beauty, beginner, belief, catastrophe, certainty, chaos, clarity, commitment, concentration, confidence, conformity, consistency, control, conviction, decline, delight, dependence, determination, devotion, disaster, disbelief, discharge, discretion, disgrace, disgust, distinction, dominance, duty, dynamite, evil, faith, favourite (BrE) / favorite (AmE), fidelity, fool, garbage, gem, guarantee, hate, hatred, heaven, hell, highlight, honesty, horror, idiot, impartiality, integrity, lie, limit, loathing, loyalty, madness, magic, majority, mastery, maximum, mess, minimum, monarch, monarchy, monopoly, necessity, nightmare, nonsense, obedience, perfection, poverty, power, precision, prerequisite, privacy, prohibition, proof, purity, refusal, reliability, requirement, restriction, right, rubbish, rule, ruler, secrecy, shock, silence, solitude, sovereignty, stillness, superiority, supremacy, term, terror, tragedy, trust, truth, waste, worst, wreck academic ability, achievement, answer, appointment, arena, article, aspiration, background, blog, book, boycott, brilliance, calendar, career, circle, colleague, community, competence, conference, controversy, course, credentials, criticism, culture, curriculum, debate, discipline, discussion, distinction, economist, enquiry, enterprise, establishment, excellence, exchange, exercise, expertise, expression, failure, field, freedom, gown, historian, honour (BrE) / honor (AmE), institution, integrity, interest, institution, jargon, journal, language, lawyer, librarian, library, life, listening skill, medicine, merit, opinion, peer, performance, phrase, phraseology, preparation, prestige, proficiency, programme (BrE) / program (AmE), progress, prose, prowess, psychologist, psychology, publication, publisher, publishing, pursuit, qualification, question, reading, reading skill, record, referee, reputation, requirement, research, researcher, respectability, rigour (BrE) / rigor (AmE), scholarship, setting, skill, speaking skill, speech, specialist, specialization, speech, sphere, staff, standard, standing, study, subject, success, tenure, text, theology, tradition, training, vocabulary, work, world, writer, writing, writing skill, year appalling act, atrocity, condition, crime, dilemma, hardship, ignorance, injury, massacre, mess, record, scene, state, stench, taste, thing, tragedy, weather breathtaking arrogance, beauty, display, pace, scenery, sight, view considerable accomplishment, accuracy, achievement, acumen, advance, advantage, agility, alarm, amount, antiquity, anxiety, appeal, apprehension, asset, assistance, attention, Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 17 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS autonomy, benefit, bitterness, bulk, caution, challenge, change, character, charm, clout, commitment, complexity, concern, confidence, confusion, consternation, controversy, cost, courage, coverage, criticism, damage, danger , debate , decline, degree, delay, demand, depth, detail, difference, difficulty, disadvantage, disagreement, disappointment, discomfort, discretion, discussion, disparity, dispute, disruption, distance, distinction, distress, diversity, doubt, drop, effort, element, embarrassment, emphasis, encouragement, enthusiasm, evidence, excitement, exertion, expansion, expenditure, expense, experience, expertise, extension, fame, feat, flair, flexibility, fluctuation, following, force, foresight, fortune, freedom, friction, frustration, gain, growth, handicap, hardship, harm, height, help, hesitation, hostility, impact, impetus, implication, importance, improvement, inconvenience, increase, influence, ingenuity, insight, intelligence, interest, investment, irritation, justification, knowledge, kudos, latitude, length, library, loss, magnitude, margin, measure, merit, misgivings, modification, momentum, need, notoriety, number, odds, opportunity, opposition, optimism, outlay, passion, percentage, pleasure, popularity, portion, potential, power, praise, pressure, prestige, profit, progress, promise, proportion, publicity, quantity, reduction, refinement, relevance, relief, reluctance, remains, repercussion, reputation, research, resentment, reservation, resistance, resource, respect, restraint, risk, room, sacrifice, saving, scale, scepticism (BrE) / skepticism (AmE), scope, shock, significance, similarity, simplification, size, skill, sophistication, speculation, stature, step, stir, strain, strength, stress, stride, success, sum, support, suspicion, sympathy, talent, tension, threat, time, trouble, uncertainty, undertaking, unease, use, variability, variation, variety, violence, volume, wealth, weight, worry demanding child, job, requirement, schedule, target, task, test, work detailed / historical / scientific research, analysis, examination, study different age, approach, arrangement, background, category, circumstance, complexion, conception, context, country, degree, dimension, direction, discipline, ending, era, face, facet, fashion, fate, form, frequency, interpretation, kind, matter, method, occasion, opinion, outcome, outlook, part, path, person, perspective, planet, point of view, position, possibility, pronunciation, proportion, proposition, respect, role, route, scenario, slant, sort, sound, source, species, spelling, spin, standpoint, strand, strategy, study, subject, tack, texture, turn, type, use, variety, viewpoint, way, world, work difficult area, aspect, assignment, birth, catch, challenge, chapter, child, childhood, choice, circumstance, climb, concept, condition, decision, delivery, descent, dilemma, enterprise, exam, exercise, feat, fixture, ground, hurdle, idea, issue, job, journey, labour (BrE) / labor (AmE), life, manoeuvre (BrE) / maneuver (AmE), matter, meeting, moment, negotiation, part, patch, period, position, predicament, pregnancy, problem, process, proposition, question, relation, relationship, road, season, situation, stage, subject, sum, target, task, temperament, terrain, test, thing, time, topic, transition, trick, undertaking, word, work distinct advantage, category, class, conception, difference, dimension, disadvantage, discipline, echo, entity, facet, feature, feeling, identity, impression, improvement, kind, lack, minority, odour (BrE) / odor (AmE), part, perception, person, personality, phase, possibility, recollection, region, role, shift, sign, smell, species, stage, strand, study, type easy acceptance, access, answer, assembly, availability, banter, catch, charm, choice, climb, confidence, conscience, decision, delivery, descent, dismissal, drive, exam, excuse, exercise, exit, explanation, familiarity, feat, fix, flow, grace, identification, job, journey, kill, labour, life, maintenance, manner, mark, money, movement, navigation, option, parking, part, prey, problem, rapport, read, recipe, reference, remedy, removal, resolution, rhythm, ride, road, route, scapegoat, smile, solution, stride, stroll, subject, sum, target, task, test, thing, transition, victim, victory, virtue, walk, way, win, winner, work far-reaching change, consequence, effect, impact, implication, influence, recommendation, reform Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 18 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS favourable (BrE) / favorable (AmE) attitude, balance, circumstance, climate, comment, comparison, condition, coverage, environment, feedback, impact, impression, opportunity, outcome, position, publicity, rating, reaction, reception, report, response, result, review, ruling, situation, term, treatment, verdict, view, vote, wind groundbreaking report, research, study, work growing acceptance, agitation, alarm, alienation, anger, anticipation, antipathy, anxiety, appeal, appetite, appreciation, apprehension, army, awareness, baby, band, belief, body, chasm, chorus, clamour / clamor, collection, competition, complexity, concern, confidence, consciousness, consensus, controversy, conviction, crime, crisis, criticism, crop, crowd, darkness, debate, deficit, demand, dependence, desire, desperation, discomfort, discontent, disillusionment, dislike, dismay, disparity, dissatisfaction, dissent, distaste, distrust, diversity, divide, dominance, doubt, dread, economy, emphasis, enthusiasm, epidemic, evidence, excitement, expectation, fascination, fatigue, fear, field, frustration, gap, gulf, hostility, imbalance, impact, impatience, importance, incidence, independence, indifference, industry, inequality, influence, insecurity, instability, interest, literature, market, maturity, menace, minority, mistrust, movement, need, niche, number, opposition, organism, pain, panic, percentage, perception, phenomenon, pool, popularity, population, preoccupation, presence, pressure, problem, prominence, proportion, prosperity, queue, rank, realization, recognition, reliance, reluctance, reputation, resentment, rift, scarcity, scepticism, sector, self-confidence, sense, sentiment, share, shoot, shortage, sophistication, split, stature, strength, support, suspicion, tendency, tension, threat, tide, trend, uncertainty, understanding, unease, unemployment, unpopularity, unrest, violence, wealth, willingness, worry: There is a growing consensus of opinion on this issue hands-off approach, style of management hands-on approach, exhibit, experience, style of management, training, workshop handy container, excuse, feature, gadget, guide, hint, reference, size, tip, tool, trick helpful advice, child, comment, criticism, discussion, example, feedback, guidance, guide, guideline, hint, information, insight, introduction, leaflet, note, person, reminder, suggestion, tip important achievement, addition, adjustment, advance, advantage, ally, amendment, appointment, area, aspect, asset, assignment, attribute, battle, bearing, book, breakthrough, business, category, cause, centre, ceremony, change, characteristic, client, clue, collection, commodity, component, composer, concept, concession, consequence, consideration, constituency, constraint, contract, contribution, contributor, crossroads, customer, decision, detail, development, difference, dimension, directive, discovery, distinction, document, effect, element, engagement, event, evidence, exception, exhibition, export, facet, fact, factor, feature, festival, figure, find, finding, fixture, focus, forum, function, gap, goal, guest, habitat, impact, implication, improvement, incentive, indication, indicator, industry, influence, information, ingredient, initiative, innovation, input, insight, instrument, issue, item, job, landmark, lesson, limitation, link, match, matter, measure, meeting, message, milestone, mineral, modification, moment, monument, move, news, niche, objective, observation, occasion, office, omission, organ, parallel, part, people, person, personality, phase, philosopher, piece, place, point, pointer, position, precedent, prerequisite, problem, project, property, qualification, quality, question, reason, recommendation, reform, reminder, repercussion, report, requirement, resource, respect, responsibility, role, ruling, save, sector, shift, site, skill, source, stage, step, strand, symbol, target, task, theme, thing, tool, topic, trend, truth, turning point, undertaking, vehicle, victory, virtue, visitor, vitamin, vote, watershed, way, work, writer increasing acceptance, age, alienation, amount, anxiety, army, autonomy, availability, awareness, clarity, commitment, competition, complexity, confidence, conflict, congestion, cost, criticism, demand, dependence, desperation, difficulty, discontent, dissatisfaction, diversity, dominance, doubt, efficiency, emphasis, evidence, flow, frailty, frequency, friction, impact, importance, incidence, inequality, influence, instability, interest, involvement, level, maturity, menace, Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 19 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS need, nervousness, number, paranoia, percentage, popularity, presence, pressure, productivity, profit, prominence, proportion, prosperity, quantity, rapidity, recognition, regularity, reliance, reluctance, return, risk, scarcity, severity, share, shortage, sign, size, sophistication, specialization, speculation, strain, support, tendency, tension, threat, trend, unpopularity, use, vigour (BrE) / vigor (AmE), visibility, volume, wealth, willingness, worry major accident, accomplishment, achievement, acquisition, addition, adjustment, advance, advantage, aim, airline, airport, alteration, amendment, appliance, argument, artery, article, artist, aspect, assault, asset, attack, attraction, award, bank, barrier, battle, benefactor, benefit, bleeding, blood vessel, blow, blunder, bonus, boost, brand, breach, breakthrough, broadcaster, campaign, capital, catastrophe, cause, celebrity, centre, chain, challenge, championship, change, characteristic, chord, city, client, collection, collector, commitment, company, competition, competitor, complaint, complication, component, composer, concern, concession, concussion, conflict, confrontation, consequence, consideration, constraint, contender, contract, contribution, contributor, controversy, corporation, coup, crackdown, crash, crime, crisis, critic, criticism, crush, culprit, currency, customer, cut, cutback, deal, decision, decline, defeat, defect, deficiency, delay, demand, demonstration, departure, depression, destination, developer, development, difference, difficulty, dimension, disadvantage, disagreement, disappointment, disaster, discipline, discount, discovery, discrepancy, dispute, disruption, distinction, distraction, distributor, disturbance, diversion, donor, drain, drawback, earthquake, effect, effort, element, embarrassment, emergency, emphasis, employer, enquiry, epidemic, episode, error, eruption, escalation, event, exception, exercise, exhibit, exhibition, expansion, expedition, expenditure, expense, explosion, export, exporter, extension, faction, factor, failing, fault, feat, feature, festival, figure, find, firm, fit, fixture, flaw, focus, force, freeway, function, gain, gamble, goal, handicap, hazard, headache, heading, highlight, highway, hindrance, hoard, honour, hostility, hurdle, hurricane, illness, impact, impediment, impetus, implication, import, importance, improvement, incentive, incident, inconvenience, increase, indicator, industry, influence, ingredient, initiative, injury, innovation, input, institution, instrument, interstate, investment, investor, irritation, issue, item, journal, key, killer, label, landmark, lapse, league, leak, lender, limitation, loss, magazine, manufacturer, meet, merger, milestone, misconception, mishap, modification, monument, motivation, move, multinational, museum, nation, news, newspaper, objection, objective, obstacle, offence, offensive, omission, operation, orchestra, organ, organization, outbreak, outlet, overhaul, part, participant, party, pest, picture, plank, player, point, pollutant, port, portion, power, preoccupation, priority, problem, producer, programme, project, proportion, publication, publisher, purchase, push, question mark, raid, rally, reappraisal, reason, rebellion, recession, recipient, recommendation, reconstruction, redistribution, reduction, redundancy , reform, religion, renovation, reorganization , repair, repercussion, report, reservation, resort, resource, responsibility, restoration, restriction, retailer, rethink, reverse, review, revision, revival, riot, risk, rival, river, road, roadblock, role, route, row, saving, scale, scandal , scare, scheme, search, setback, shake-up, share, shareholder, shift, shock, shopping centre, shortcoming, show, side effect, significance, site, snag, source, speech, split, sponsor, sponsorship, sport, star, step, stimulus, stockholder, store, storm, stress, strike, studio, study, stumbling block, success, supermarket, supplier, surgery, surprise, survey, talent, tantrum, target, task, theme, threat, thrust, tool, topic, tournament, town, tragedy, transformation, trauma, trend, tributary, triumph, trophy, trouble, turn-off, turning point, type, undertaking, union, university, upheaval, upset, utility, variation, vehicle , venue, victory, violation, watershed, weakness, work, worry, writer minor accident, adjustment, ailment, alteration, amendment, annoyance, blemish, breach, bruise, bug, bump, burn, catastrophe, celebrity, change, character, chord, classic, complaint, complication, component, composer, concession, concussion, consideration, contribution, correction, crime, criticism, cut, damage, defect, deity, depression, detail, difference, disagreement, disappointment, discomfort, discrepancy, dispute, distraction, disturbance, diversion, drawback, earthquake, error, eruption, exception, explosion, fault, flaw, fluctuation, graze, heart attack, hiccup, illness, imperfection, importance, improvement, incident, inconvenience, indiscretion, infection, infringement, injury, irregularity , irritation, issue, key, knock, lapse, league, leak, masterpiece, miracle, mishap, modification, mystery, nuisance, offence, office, official, operation, panic, part, poet, point, problem, rebellion, reduction, reform, repair, reservation, revision, revolution, road, role, royalty, scale, scratch, scuffle, setback, Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 20 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS shortcoming, side effect, significance, skirmish, snag, sport, squabble, stroke, surgery, symptom, technicality, tremor, triumph, upset, vandalism, variation, violation, wound outstanding ability, achievement, athlete, balance, beauty, bill, bravery, characteristic, collection, contribution, courage, debt, difference, display, dispute, example, exponent, feature, fee, gallantry, gift, importance, individual, invoice, job, leadership, loan, merit, musician, order, panel, performance, performer, player, quality, record, reputation, result, save, scholar, season, service, share, sportsman, sportswoman, success, talent, teacher, value, victory, warrant, work overriding aim, concern, consideration, importance, impression, message, need, objective, theme overwhelming advantage, approval, bulk, consensus, defeat, desire, dominance, emotion, endorsement, evidence, favourite, fear, feeling, force, grief, guilt, importance, impression, influence, joy, longing, love, majority, margin, need, number, odds, percentage, popularity, presence, proportion, relief, sadness, sensation, sense, stench, success, superiority, support, temptation, tiredness, urge, victory, vote scientific accomplishment, accuracy, achievement, activity, advance, advancement, adviser, apparatus, approach, article, aspect, assessment, background, base, basis, bent, breakthrough, circle, colleague, community, concept, consensus, controversy, creativity, credentials, credibility, criticism, culture, curiosity, data, debate, development, discipline, discovery, endeavour (BrE) / endeavor (AmE), enquiry, enterprise, equipment, establishment, evidence, examination, excellence, expedition, experiment, expert, expertise, explanation, exploration, fact, finding, formula, foundation, genius, hypothesis, idea, illiteracy, innovation, institute, instrument, integrity, interest, investigation, jargon, journal, justification, know-how, knowledge, literature, logic, measurement, medicine, meeting, merit, method, misconduct, model, mystery, name, observation, orthodoxy, paper, point of view, precision, principle, procedure, progress, proof, publication , publishing, puzzle, reasoning, report, reputation, research, researcher, respectability, revolution, rigour (BrE) / rigor (AmE), scrutiny, socialism, society , study, talent , technique, temperament, term, terminology, text, theory, thinker , thinking, thought, topic, training, truth, uncertainty, understanding, validity, verification, viewpoint, vocabulary, work, writing significant accomplishment, achievement, addition, adjustment, advance, advantage, alteration, amendment, amount, aspect, bearing, benefit, bias, boost, breakthrough, burden, cause, challenge, change, complication, component , concession , consequence , contribution , contributor, correlation, cut, damage, danger, date, decline, decrease, degree, delay, dent, departure, depletion, deterioration, development, difference , dimension , disability , disadvantage, disagreement, discount, discovery, discrepancy, disruption, distinction, distress, downturn, drawback, drop, economy, effect, element, erosion, event, evidence, exception, expansion, expenditure, expense, extension, factor, fall, feature, find, finding, force, fraction, funding, gain, gap, growth, hurdle, impact, implication, improvement, inaccuracy, increase, indicator, influence, innovation, input, insight, investment, landmark, lead, level, limitation, link, loss, majority, measure, milestone, minority, modification, move, number, obstacle, omission, parallel, part, percentage, portion, presence, problem, progress, proportion, quantity, recovery, redistribution, reduction, reform, relation, relationship, repercussion, resource, respect, restriction, result, rise, risk, role, saving, setback, share, shift, shortcoming, side effect, similarity, slice, stake, step, stride, sum, threat, trend, turning point, uncertainty, underestimate, variation, victory, weakness similar background, fashion, fat, frequency, idea, kind, pattern, position, predicament, proportion, research, scenario, size, sort, study, type, way, work simple addition, affair, analogy, answer, arithmetic, assertion, calculation, carbohydrate, case, ceremony, choice, chore, classification, command, common sense, comparison, component, compound, concept, construction, conversation, correlation, cottage, courtesy, creature, curiosity, decency, demonstration, description, design, device, diagram, dish, Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 21 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS distinction, division, dress, economics, elegance, enjoyment, equation, errand, example, exercise, experiment, explanation, expression, fact, fairness, faith, fare, fix, folk, food, form, formula, fracture, funeral, gesture, graphics, greed, guide, guideline, idea, illusion, illustration, indicator, instruction, interest, joy, kindness, language, life, logic, luxury, majority, map, mathematics / maths, matter, maxim, meal, measure, mechanics, mechanism, melody, menu , message, method, mistake, misunderstanding, model, molecule, motif, narrative, notion, observation, organism, outline, philosophy, pleasure, plot, precaution, presentation, problem, procedure, proposition, prose, question, questionnaire, reason, recipe, reflection, remedy, reply, request, rule, search, sentence, shape, shrug, situation, sketch, slogan, solution, soul, spreadsheet, statement, strategy, structure, subject, sugar, suggestion, system, tale, task, taste, technique, test, thank you, thing, tip, tool, trick, truth, way, word, word processing, yes straightforward answer, approach, example, exercise, fact, fashion, interpretation, manner, narrative, procedure, prose, story striking appearance, aspect, case, characteristic, contrast, development, difference, display, effect, evidence, example, exception, feature, figure, finding, illustration, image, instance, look, metaphor, parallel, picture, resemblance, similarity, thing substantial acquisition, advance, alteration, amount, assistance, autonomy, benefit, bloc, body, breakfast, burden, change, chunk, collection, concession, contingent, contribution, criticism, cut, damage, debt, decline, decrease, deficit, degree, delay, difference, disadvantage, disagreement, discount, discrepancy, donation, dowry, drop, estate, evidence, expansion, fall, fee, fine, fortune, fraction, fund, funding, gain, gap, grant, help, impact, improvement, increase, inequality, influence, injection, input, investment, lead, level, liability, likelihood, loss, majority, margin, meal, measure, minority, number, part, penalty, percentage, portion, presence, profit, progress, proportion, quantity, rebate, recovery, reduction, reform, remains, reserve, resistance, resource, return, revenue, revision, reward, rise, risk, role, saving, share, shareholder, shift, size, slice, stake, sum, support, uncertainty, variation, volume technical ability, accomplishment, accuracy, achievement, acumen, advance, advancement, advantage, adviser, aspect, assistance, assistant, background, brilliance, capability, challenge, college, competence, complexity, consultant, cooperation, data, demand, designer, detail, development, dictionary, difficulty, director, discussion, drawing, editor, efficiency, equipment, excellence, exercise, expert, expertise, explanation, facility, failure, fault, feasibility, feat, fix, foul, guidance, help, hitch, hurdle, improvement, incompetence, information, ingenuity, innovation, input, institute, instruction, issue, jargon, journal, know-how, knowledge, language, limitation, manager, manual, mastery, matter, means, merit, occupation, paper, perfection, personnel, point of view, precision, problem, proficiency, progress, prowess, qualification, quality, question, reason, refinement, report, requirement, resource, sense, shortcoming, skill, snag, solution, sophistication, specialist, specification, standard, standpoint, subject, superiority, supervisor, support, term, terminology, training , violation, vocabulary, writer, writing unfavourable (BrE) / unfavorable (AmE) circumstance, climate, comment, comparison, condition, impression, publicity, rating, term useful addition, address, advice, aid, ally, analogy, approach, asset, attribute, barometer, bibliography, book, checklist, clue, collection, comment, comparison, concept, contact, contribution, device, discussion, distinction, example, exercise, facility, feature, feedback, forum, framework, function, gadget, gauge, generalization, goal, guidance, guide, guideline, hint, improvement, index, indication, indicator, information, insight, instrument, introduction, knowledge, lesson, lever, link, material, means, measure, metaphor, overview, pointer, purpose, reference, refinement, reminder, resource, role, shorthand, sideline, site, skill, source, starting point, suggestion, summary, supplement, technique, tip, tool, trick, way, weapon, yardstick Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 22 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS utter agony, amazement, annoyance, astonishment, boredom, chaos, confidence, confusion, contempt, conviction, darkness, delight, despair, destruction, devastation, disappointment, disarray, disaster, disbelief, disdain, disgrace, disgust, dismay, disregard, disrespect, embarrassment, exasperation, exhaustion, failure, fear, fool, frustration, futility, garbage, hell, helplessness, horror, humiliation, idiot, ignorance, incompetence, indifference, joy, lack, loneliness, madness, mess, nonsense, panic, perfection, refusal, revulsion, rubbish, ruin, selfishness, shock, silence, stillness, stupidity, surprise, terror, waste wide-ranging discussion, implication, interest, recommendation, reform, report, review, shake-up, talk, topic widespread abuse, acceptance, acclaim, adoption, agreement, alienation, allegation, anger, apathy, appeal, assumption, availability, belief, bloodshed, concern, condemnation, confusion, consensus, consternation, contamination, corruption, coverage, criticism, currency, cynicism, damage, destruction, devastation, disagreement, disapproval, disbelief, discontent, discrimination, disillusionment, dismay, disorder, disruption, dissatisfaction, distribution, distrust, enthusiasm, evidence, expectation, extinction, famine, fear, feeling, hostility, ignorance, illiteracy, implementation, impression, interest, introduction, irregularity, misconception, mistrust, misunderstanding, myth, network, occurrence, opposition, outrage, panic, participation, perception, pessimism, phenomenon, popularity, poverty, practice, praise, protest, publicity, recognition, repercussion, resistance, revolt, revulsion, rumour (BrE) / rumor (AmE), scepticism , speculation, starvation, suffering, support, suspicion, sympathy, unemployment, unhappiness, unrest, usage, use, vaccination, violation, violence © Oxford University Press, 2009 Prepositional Combinations: for, from, in, on, and to for: for… reason. For example: for economic / financial / legal / linguistic / personal, selfish / political / practical / professional / social / technical / theoretical reasons; for reasons best known to yourself; for clear / logical / justifiable obvious / unclear / unconnected / understandable / unspecified reasons; for several / various reasons; for some inexplicable reason; for some odd reason; for some strange reason; for some unfathomable reason; for unexplained reasons; for unknown reasons; for whatever reason; for a number of reasons, for a variety of reasons from: from … perspective / point of view / standpoint. For example: from my/her/his/your/our/their point of view; from an alternative / different point of view; from a particular/ unique point of view; from a (purely) personal / subjective point of view; from a moral / practical / technical / theoretical perspective / point of view / standpoint; from a biological / commercial / economical / historical / legal / linguistic / mathematical / medical / philosophical / political / psychological / religious / safety / scientific / security / strategic, etc. perspective / point of view / standpoint; from a conservative / liberal / socialist , etc. point of view; from a Buddhist, Catholic / Christian / Islamic, etc. point of view; from an American / an Eastern / a European / a Western, etc. point of view ○ From the perspective of … ◊ From the point of view of … ◊ From the standpoint of … in: in ink, in pen, in pencil; in a photo, in a picture; in a raincoat, in a shirt, in a skirt, in a suit  in … opinion: in my/her/his/your/our/their opinion; in my humble opinion  in a … voice: in a high/low voice; in an authoritative/ in a commanding voice; in a beautiful / fine / good / lovely / pleasant / sweet voice; in a distinctive/unmistakable voice; in an emotionless/ a matter-of-fact/ an unemotional voice on: on … occasion. For example: on countless occasions, on many occasions, on multiple occasions (especially AmE), on numerous occasions; on a few occasions, on several occasions, on various occasions; on rare occasions; on previous occasion; on different occasions, on separate occasions; on an/the occasion; on a number of occasions; on one occasion; on that occasion, on this occasion; on the odd occasion; on auspicious / big / ceremonial / festive / formal / great / happy / historic / important / joyous / memorable / momentous / right / sad / social / solemn / special / state / suitable occasions; on occasion, on the occasion of Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 23 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS on: on … side. For example: on the opposite/other side (of); on the left/right side (of); on the lefthand/right-hand side (of); on the near/far side (of); on the right/wrong side (of); on the (east/west) side (of); on one side (or to one side ‘not in the middle’); on your side; on the losing / opposing/ winning side (of); on the Democratic/ Republic side; on both sides (of) NOTE: It is also possible to say: at the opposite/other side (of); at the left/right side (of); at the left-hand/right-hand side (of); at the near/far side (of); at the right/wrong side (of); at the (east/west) side (of); at one side. to: to … extent. For example: to a considerable extent, to a great extent, to a large extent, to a significant extent; to a certain extent, to some extent; to a lesser extent, to a limited extent, to a small extent; to such an extent (that); to the extent possible (esp. AmE), to the fullest / to the greatest / to the maximum, etc. extent possible; to the same extent; to the extent of, to the extent that; to what extent? Nouns + Prepositions There are nouns which have the same prepositions 3. It is often the case that some nouns (or words) with a similar meaning are typically followed by the same preposition. For example, ‘appetite’, ‘craving’, ‘desire’, ‘hunger’, ‘longing’, ‘lust’, ‘thirst’, and ‘yearning’, are all followed by ‘for’. Sometimes, a single noun has a different preposition because its meaning is also different. For example: a plan for/on (= ‘a set of things to do in order to achieve something; a programme’), a plan for/of (= ‘a diagram that shows how something will be arranged’). Other times, a single noun has different prepositions but with the same meaning, for example: discussion about / as to / among / between / of / on / over / with; problem about / for / of / with. As established above, the most important aspect that we should bear in our mind is that nouns (or words) which have similar meanings take, in general, the same preposition. Another example is: an initiative / a manifesto / a plan / a platform / a policy / a programme / a scheme / a strategy for sth an initiative / a policy / a strategy on sth an initiative / a plan / a policy / a programme / a scheme / a strategy to do sth On account of this, in order to broaden our vocabulary and facilitate our memorization we make an attempt to organize them according to their prepositions, as follows. nouns which usually have ‘about’ after them: agreement about / on sth, allegation (also of), anger, annoyance, anxiety, assertion (also of), assumption about sth, bad feeling, bitterness, bother about sth (rather informal), claim (also of), concept, consensus about / on sth, conclusion, conjecture about sth, consultation, conversation, curiosity, debate, deduction, dialogue, discussion, education, excitement, findings, gladness, grudge, guess about sth, guesswork about sth, hassle about sth (informal), hypothesis, idea, inference, information, instruction, judgement, learning, mistake, mystery about sth, nervousness, notion, opinion, paradox about sth, pleasure, presumption about sth, presupposition about sth, problem, proposition, puzzle about sth, recommendation, reflection, resentment, ruling, sadness, speculation about sth, suggestion, surprise, talk, teaching, theory, thesis, thinking, thought, unanimity about / on sth, worry. NOTE: The reasoning / thinking / thought behind sth | To formulate a hypothesis / theory / thesis | To support a hypothesis / premise / proposition / theory / thesis | amazement / anger / annoyance / cleverness / delight / excitement / euphoria / guess / happiness / joy / knock / laughter / shame / slowness / surprise at sth nouns which usually have ‘against’ after them: accusation, action, advice, aggression, allegation, appeal, argument, attack, battle, bias, campaign, case, charge, complaint, crusade, defence, demonstration, discrimination, evidence, fight, grievance, grudge, indictment, insurance, law, march, offensive, prejudice, protection, protest, raid, reaction, rebellion, recrimination, 3 However, there are other nouns (or words) which have different prepositions, such as: anger at, authority over, awareness of, bond between, complex about, control over, crime against, departure from, escape from, except from, foray into, freedom from, grudge against, insurance against, quotation from, relapse into, reaction against, safeguard against Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 24 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS resentment, safeguard, stance, stand, strike, vote. NOTE: We can also say an assault / an attack / an incursion / an offensive / a strike / on sb/sth. Some of these nouns take the prepositional phrase in favour of such as bias / discrimination /prejudice in favour of/against sb/sth. ◊ We should also pay attention to verbs that go with these nouns: to bear resentment/a grudge against sb. BUT: To bear / harbour / have / hold / nurse a grudge (against sb) | to harbour bitterness / a grudge / resentment against sb | to go on/join/participate in/take part in a demonstration / march / protest against sth/sb. nouns which usually have ‘among’ after them: agreement among people, consensus among people, harmony among people, identity among people, solidarity among people, unanimity among people, unity among people nouns which usually have ‘behind’ after them: (the) assumption, (the) factor, (the) (the) logic, (the) motive, (the) motivation, (the) principle, (the) rationale, (the) reason, (the) theory nouns which usually have ‘between’ after them: acrimony, affection, affiliation, affinity, agreement between people, animosity, antagonism, antipathy, association, attraction, bad feeling, bitterness, choice, (no) comparison, compromise, connection, consensus between people, consultation, contrast, conversation, correspondence, debate, devotion, dialogue, difference, discussion (also among), distinction, enmity, equivalence, exchange, (close, intimate, lifelong, strong, true) friendship (also with), harmony between people, hostility, identity between people, interconnection, interrelation, interrelationship, likeness, linkage, links, love, middle ground, parallel, partnership, passion, relations, relationship, resemblance, resentment, romance, similarity, solidarity between people, tenderness, tension, ties, trade-off, unity between people. BUT: a grudge / resentment against sb and bitterness / resentment over sth. | an action / a battle / a campaign / combat / a conflict / fighting / hostilities / a skirmish / a war / warfare with/ against/between sb/sth nouns which usually have ‘for’ after them: acceptance, admiration, affection, agreement, aim (also at sb/sth), aims and objectives, apparatus, appeal, appetite, application, approval, aptitude, argument, arrangement, assent, attraction, authority, authorization, basis, benchmark, bent, bid, blame, blow for sb, blueprint, call, capability, capacity, case, catastrophe for sb, catalyst, cause, challenge for sb (usually approving), channel, claim, clearance, compassion for sb/sth, compensation, concern for sb/sth, condition, consent, craving, credit, criterion, cure, defence, demand, design, desire, disadvantage for sb, disappointment for sb, disaster for sb, disdain, dislike, disregard, disrespect, downside for sb (rather informal, especially in journalism), drawback for sb, eagerness, education, example for sb, excuse, explanation, failure for sb, flair, fondness, force for sth, gift, goals, gratitude (also to sb/sth), grief, grounds, haven, hope, hunger, impetus, incentive, inclination, infatuation, influence for sb/sth, inspiration, instrument, issue for sb (rather informal), justification, knack, lateness, let-down for sb, liking (for sth), love, lust, measure, medium, method (also of), motion, motivation, motive, need, network, norm, occasion, objectives, offer, opportunity, optimism, order, passion (for sth), patience, pay(ment), permission, petition, pitfall for sb, pity for sb/sth, plan, plea, possibilities, preference (for sth), prerequisite, pretext, problem for sb, procedure, process, proposal, propensity, provision, quest, readiness, reason, recipe, recommendation, regard, regret, remedy, request, requirement, reservation, respect, responsibility, room (also between), route, sadness, search, setback for sb, snag for sb (rather informal), sorrow, space (also between), stimulus, strategy, study, substitute, suggestion, sympathy for sb/sth, synonym, system, talent, targets, taste (for sth), teaching, technique, tender, tenderness, terms, thankfulness (also to sb/sth), thirst, tolerance, touchstone, training, trouble for sb (disapproving), tuition, urge, vehicle, vote, weakness (for sth), (long) wait, wish, yardstick. But also: the compulsion / desire / impulse / inclination / need / temptation / urge / wish to do sth | a chance / the opportunity / your turn to do sth | under the conditions / provisions / terms of sth | To get / give (sb) authority / Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 25 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS authorization / clearance / consent / the go-ahead / leave / permission to do sth | the ability / capability / capacity / power to do sth | room / space to do sth For a better collocational competence, we grouped some of the most used synonymous nouns (in academic writing) here: aid to doing sth: A thesaurus is a useful aid to writing. | with the aid of sb/sth | without the aid of sb/sth | in aid of sth/sb approach to sth | approach to doing sth guide to doing sth | a guide about sb/sth | a guide/guidebook to sth key to doing sth | the key to sth method for/of sth | method for/of doing sth procedure for sth | method for doing sth proceedings against / before / between sth | proceedings against / before doing sth step to do sth | step of doing sth | a step towards sth strategy to do sth | strategy for doing sth | strategy for sth | strategy toward/towards sth | strategy on sth technique for/of doing sth | technique for sth | technique of/in sth the impetus / incentive / inducement / stimulus to do sth way of sth | way of doing sth | way to do sth nouns which usually have ‘from’ after them: absence, break, citation, difference, division, emergence, freedom, isolation, quotation (formal or written), quote (informal), rebuff from sb, refusal from sb, rejection from sb, resignation, respite, rest, retirement, safety, segregation, separation, theft (also of), time out. Note: a rebuff / refusal / rejection / veto by sb | (a) division / segregation / separation / split between A and B | (a) division / segregation / separation / split into parts | (a) division / isolation / segregation within sth | a citation / quotation / quote taken from sb/sth | This citation / quotation / quote comes from … NOTE ALSO we can use the noun citation or the verb cite for reasons or examples, but the noun quotation or the verb quote only for examples.: A quotation as the reason for his failure. | To attribute / cite / take a quotation (from) … | To attribute / take a quote (from) … NOT to make / do a quotation nouns which usually have ‘in’ after them: advance, advancement, (any, no, some) advantage, aperture, arrive (also at), authority (also in the field of, on), belief, (any, no, some) benefit, breakdown, change, cleverness, coaching, coherence, collapse, comfort, competence, consolation, contentment, cut, cutback, decline, decrease, deficiency, development, difficulty, disadvantage, distinction, downturn, drop (especially journalism), edge, education, efficiency, error, excellence, expert (also at, in the field of, on), expertise, failure, fall (especially business), fulfilment, gain, gap, growth, happiness, head start, hiccup in sth (rather informal), hike, hitch in sth, hole, howler, inaccuracy, increase, inflation, innovation, instruction, interest, investment, know-how, lead, lecturer, merit, method, mistake, misprint, opening, pitfall, pride, professor, proficiency, progress, prowess, reassurance, reduction, relief, rise, satisfaction, scholar(also in the field of), schooling, setback in sth, shortage, shortfall, similarity (also in sth), skill (also at), slip, slot, slump, snag, space, specialist (also in the field of, on), spiral, success, surge, taste, teaching, technique (also for), trade in sth, training, trust in sb/sth, tuition, tutoring, the upper hand, upturn, value, (any, no, some) virtue: a lecturer in French / psychology nouns which usually have ‘of’ after them: abstract, acceptance, accusation, advantage, aficionado, agreement, aim, (the) amount, analysis, approval, assessment (also at sth), area, aspect, authorization, awareness, betrayal, blueprint, bother (rather informal), breakdown, capacity, carelessness, catalogue, catalyst, categorization, category, certainty (also about sb/sth), chain, channel, change, characteristic, charge, circumstance(s), clarification, class, classification, cognizance, combination (also with sb/sth), connoisseur, connotation, consciousness, chronology, creation, cut, cutback, decline, decrease, defence (also against, from), definition, denial, denotation, design, description, development, difficulty, dimension, discussion of sth, draft, dream, drop, employment, era, example, exclusion, explanation, failure, fall, fear, feature, forgiveness (also for sb), function, gain, growth, hassle (informal), hike (informal, especially journalism), idea, illustration (rather formal, especially written), implication, incidence, inclusion, increase, inflation, instance (rather formal), instrument, intent, intention, interpretation, interrelation, interrelationship, invention, issue, jealousy (of sb/sth), Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 26 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS knowledge, level, love, majority, meaning, means, measurement, medium, mention, method, minority, model, motif, nature, neglect, (the) number, offer, opinion, organization, outbreak, outline, overtures, overview, part, pattern, perception, permission, piece, plan, power, principle, problem, professor, proposal, protection (also against, from), purpose, quality, (the) quantity, question, range, rate, reading, realization, reduction, reminder, repetition, representation, return, robbery, rise, (the) rise and fall, risk, rundown, scholar, sense, sequence, series, set, share (also with sb), sign, signal, significance, similarity (also to sb/sth), size, sketch, smell (also of sth), specimen, string, species, statement, subject, success, succession, sum, summary, surge, symptom, synopsis, taste (of sth), teacher, terms and conditions, theme, theory, time, topic, translation, (the) trouble, tutor, understanding, use, value, variety, vehicle, vastness, view, (the) volume, way, wrath. NOTE: Just look at these structures: To be beyond/outside the authority / control / jurisdiction / power of sb. ◊ an authority / an expert / a specialist in the field of sth. ◊ a matter / question / subject / topic of / for discussion ◊ from the angle / the perspective / the point of view / the position / the standpoint of sb/sth. We can also use in with some of these nouns: a gain / growth / a hike / an increase / inflation / a rise / a spiral / a surge / an upturn in sth. ◊ a cut / cutback / decline / decrease / downturn / drop / fall / reduction / slump in sth. | lecturer / professor at sth | To make (no) mention of sb/sth BUT To make (no) reference to sb/sth | beyond the scope of … | on the issue of …, on the subject of (= about, on) … | Note these structures: aim / intent / intention / plan / purpose that … for the purpose of (doing) sth intent / intention / plan to do sth the aim of sth is to do sth with the aim / idea / intent / intention / purpose of doing sth nouns which usually have ‘on’ (or ‘upon’) after them: advice, agreement, assault, attack, ban, claim, comment, concentration, congratulations, constraint, counseling, crackdown, curb, dependence, effect, embargo, focus, guidance, guideline, hold, hypothesis, impact, impression, influence, insistence, keenness, motion, proposal, reasoning, recommendation, reflection, reliance, restriction, stance, suggestion, tax, theory, thesis, thinking, thought, tips. NOTE: But advice / counseling / tips for sb/sth. ◊ There are some structures that we can use both prepositions, such as: an authority / an expert / a specialist in/on sth ◊ to be involved in / to engage in / to join in / to participate in / to take part in (a) conversation / debate / dialogue / discussion about/on sth. The other use of ‘on’ is (noun + on) for more factual or formal contexts): agreement on, assault on, attack on, authority (‘expert’) on, ban on, comment on, consultation on, conversation on, debate on, dialogue on, discussion on, effect on, emphasis on, impact on, impression on, influence on, perspective on, research on, restriction on, tax on, work on. Note also the following structure: someone's angle / line / outlook / perspective / position / stance / stand / view on sth ◊ from the angle / perspective / point of view / position of sb/sth. Note the verbs that are used with the above nouns: To have a consultation / conversation / debate / dialogue / discussion / exchange / talk | To hold a consultation / conversation / debate / discussion | To get into (a) conversation / discussion with sb | To conclude / continue / end a conversation / debate / discussion | To break off a conversation / discussion Nouns associated with ‘on’: effect / emphasis / idea / impact / influence / opinion / research / view / work on, but enquiry / inquiry / insight / investigation / report / research / survey into nouns which usually have ‘over’ after them: advantage, agreement over sth, anger (also at/towards sb/sth), angst (also about), anxiety (also about), apprehension (also about), authority, bitterness, bother over sth (rather informal), claim, consensus over sth, concern (also about), command, control, debacle over sth, discussion, dispute, edge, fiasco over sth, happiness (also at), hassle over sth (informal), head start, hold, influence, jurisdiction, lead, leverage, power, rejoicing (also at), resentment, right, rule, solidarity over sth, sorrow (also at), storm, trouble Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 27 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS over sth, unanimity over sth, unease (also about), the upper hand, veto (also on), worry (also about). NOTE: With these nouns we can use both or more prepositions: an argument / a fight / a quarrel / a row / a squabble about /over sth ◊ a compromise / concession on/over sth ◊ a conflict / contention / a controversy / a debate / differences / a dispute / a disagreement / a war about / over / between sb/sth ◊ a furore / a fuss / an outcry / an uproar about / over sth ◊ grief / heartache / heartbreak / melancholy / regret / sadness / sorrow / unhappiness at/about/over sth nouns which usually have ‘to’ after them: access, accessibility, adaptation, addiction, addition, adherence, admission, advance, advantage, advice (also about), affront, allegiance, allergy, allusion, alternative, answer, antidote, apology, application, appointment (also as), approach, aspect, attachment, attention, attitude, aversion, blow to sb, catalyst to (+ -ing), catch (rather informal ‘drawback’) to sth, challenge, charge, claim, closeness, comfort to sb, concession to sb, confession, connection, consolation to sb, contribution, conversion, damage, dedication, determination, detriment, devotion, dimension, disadvantage to sth, disloyalty, downside to sth (rather informal, especially in journalism), drawback to sth, eagerness, edge, enigma to sb, entrance, entry, equivalence, exception, faithfulness, fidelity, governess to sb, guide, harm, hazard, head start, hostility, immune, impetus, incentive, incitement, inducement, introduction, invitation, key, kindness, likeness, loan, loyalty, marriage to sb, mystery to sb, obedience, objection, obligation, offer, opposition, overtures, parallel, preface, prelude, proposal, puzzle to sb, reaction, recourse, reference, regard, relation, relevance, relief to sb, reply, resemblance (also between), resistance, response, return, sequel, setback to sb, similarity, snag to sth (rather informal), solution, sop to sb, stimulus, strand, susceptibility, teacher to sb, testimony, threat, tutor to sb, vulnerability, willingness, witness. NOTE: To put a motion / proposal / submission to sb. | To make / consider a proposal / proposition / recommendation / suggestion to/for/on sth. ◊ To turn your attention / concentration / interest to sth | To pay (no) attention / regard to sth. Note also: access/entry for sb; equivalence in sth, parallel in sth, similarity in sth, uniform in sth | discussion as to sth | in an allusion to sb/sth, in a reference to sb/sth | sb / sth's advancement / progression / promotion rise to sth also sth is in development / progress noun + ‘to-’ infinitive: (the)ability4, agreement, ambition, anxiety, aspirations, attempt, (the) authority, authorization, bid, (the) capability, (the) capacity, chance, clearance, (the) compulsion, consent, decision, (the) desire, disinclination, desperation, device, drive, effort, entitlement, failure, forum, (the) foresight, (the) go-ahead, hope, (the) impulse, (the) inability, (the) inclination, initiative, intent, intention, (the) jurisdiction, leave, (the) need, opportunity, order, permission, plan, pleasure, ploy, policy, (the) power, programme, promise, propensity, proposal, readiness, reason, refusal, reluctance, right, scheme, strategy, (the) temptation, tendency, threat, trend, (your) turn, unwillingness, (the) urge, way, warning, willingness, (the) wish + ‘to-’ infinitive (i.e. to do sth): What strategies will you use to achieve this goal? ◊ We welcome this latest initiative to help the homeless. ◊ I have no desire (= I do not want) to discuss the matter further. ◊ In an attempt to ward off criticism, the government has made education a priority. ◊ The decision to go had not been an easy one. BUT: aspirations / a capability / a capacity / a desire / expectations / hopes / an inclination / a need / an urge / a wish for + noun (something). To have ambition / aspirations / a compulsion / a desire / an impulse / an inclination / a need / a temptation / an urge / a wish to do something | To feel a compulsion / a desire / an impulse / an inclination / a need / a temptation / an urge to do something. NOTE: As we can see, some nouns can be followed by a ‘to-’infinitive, such as ability to, attempt to, concern to, decision to, desire to, determination to, failure to, inability to, permission to, proposal to, reason to, refusal to, reluctance to, unwillingness to, willingness to, etc. Others can be followed by ‘of + -ing’ such as cost of, effect of, fear of, habit of, likelihood of, possibility of, probability of, problem of, prospect of, risk of, sign of, etc. Note that many of these nouns can also be used with other prepositions such as attempt at + -ing, reason for + -ing, etc. Some others be followed either by ‘to-’ infinitive or ‘of + -ing’ with similar meaning such as aim of/to, ambition of/to, idea of/to, option of/to, opportunity of/to, plan of/to, etc. However, there are other nouns that follow the pattern ‘to’ + -ing such as approach to, guide to, introduction to, key to, etc. 4 To have/develop/acquire/lack/lose the ability/capability/capacity/power to do something | To demonstrate/show your ability / capability / capacity / power to do something | To have the decency/good sense to do something: At least she had the decency to apologize. ◊ At least he had the good sense to turn the gas off. Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 28 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS nouns which usually have ‘toward (AmE) or towards (BrE)’ after them: affection, aggression towards, anger towards sb, animosity towards (also against) sb, antagonism towards (also to) sb, antipathy towards (to), attitude towards (also to), behaviour towards, bias towards (also against, in favour of) sb/sth, conduct towards, contribution towards (to), discrimination towards (also against, in favour of) sb/sth, disposition towards, drift towards (also to), a duty towards sb, enmity towards (also between), favouritism/favoritism towards sb/sth, generosity towards (also at, to), gesture towards, gratitude towards (also to), hatred towards (also for, of), hostility towards (also between, to), inclination towards (also to), intolerance towards sb/sth, leaning towards, loyalty towards (also to), malice, manner towards, momentum towards, move towards (also against, from, to), movement towards (also away from), openness towards (also to), orientation towards (also to) sth, pace towards (also backwards, forwards), policy towards (also on), posture towards, predisposition towards (also to), prejudice towards (also against, in favour of) sb/sth, proclivity towards (also for, to), progress towards (also to), progression towards, rancour/rancor towards (also against), resentment towards (also against), responsibility towards sb, shift towards (also from, to), step towards (also forwards), strategy towards (also for, on), swing towards (also between, to), tendency towards (also to) sth, tenderness, tilt towards, tolerance towards (also for, of), trend towards nouns which usually have ‘with’ after them: affiliation, affinity, agreement, annoyance, association, audition with sb, boredom, bother with sth (rather informal), chat (informal), collision, collusion, communication, (no) comparison, complication with sth, connection/connexion, consultation, contact, contentment, contrast, conversation, correspondence, date, dealings, debate, dialogue, difficulty with sth, discussion with sb, disillusion / disillusionment, displeasure, dispute, dissatisfaction, discussion, encounter, equivalence, exasperation, exchange, familiarity, gossip, hassle with sth (informal), identification, intersection, interview with sb, intimacy, involvement, irritation, issue with sth (rather informal), kinship, link, the matter (especially spoken), meeting, parallel, parity, partnership, problem with sth, quarrel, relations, relationship, satisfaction, screen test with sb, similarity, sympathy, talk, ties, trial with sb, trouble with sth, tryout (informal) with sb. NOTE: To get into (a) conversation / discussion with sb | To keep in contact with sb; to be in communication /contact / correspondence (with sb) | To have contact / dealings with sb ◊ the disadvantages / drawbacks / pitfalls associated with sth | an interview / an audition / a screen test / trials / tryouts for sth | in accord / agreement / harmony / solidarity / unity with sb/sth. BUT: by agreement /consensus /consent ◊ in accord / agreement / harmony / unity ____________________________________ // ____________________________________ Verbal Phrases: Verbs + Prepositions … is / has been / supposedly based on … … is / has been / based on the premise / proposition that … … is / has been / documented in studies such as … … is / has been / will be / is going to be directly focused on / targeted at / aimed at / addressed at / pitched at sb/sth … is / has been / will be / is going to be mainly / clearly focused on / targeted at / directed at / aimed at sb/sth … is / has been / will be / is going to be particularly focused on / targeted at / directed at / aimed at / oriented towards / pitched at sb/sth … is / has been / will be / is going to be primarily focused on / targeted at / directed at / aimed at / addressed at / oriented towards / pitched at sb/sth … is / has been / will be / is going to be principally targeted at / directed at / aimed at / addressed at / oriented towards sb/sth … is / has been / will be / is going to be specifically focused on / targeted at / directed at / aimed at / addressed at / oriented towards sb/sth a hypothesis / premise / proposition / theory / thesis is based on sth Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 29 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS a case depends on / hinges on / rests on sth a lot / everything / it all / sb's reputation hangs on sth. (rather informal) It all depends on / hinges on sth. | It depends (on) / hinges on / rests on what / how / who / where / whether… Teachers are invited to channel / concentrate / devote / direct / focus their energies into … The argument / case / decision / evidence / theory rests on sth. The chapter / study / survey is / will be / is going to be focused on/targeted at a/directed at a group / an area / students / teachers, etc. The findings / results cast / shed / throw light on … The following section will lay / place / put emphasis on … The problem / difficulty / trouble lies in … The students faced an uphill struggle to get good marks This chapter / paper / research / section / subsection is / has been / will be / is going to be focused on / directed at / oriented towards sth To address / approach / come to grips with / get to grips with / grapple with / handle / manage / tackle a problem To arrive at a decision, to reach a decision, to come to a decision | to stand by a decision, to stick to a decision (= to continue to support a decision) To be based on a hypothesis / premise / proposition / theory / thesis | to formulate a hypothesis / theory / thesis | to prove a hypothesis / proposition / theory / thesis | to support a hypothesis / premise / proposition / theory / thesis | to test a hypothesis / premise / proposition / theory To be (closely / directly / firmly / strongly etc.) joined / (clearly / explicitly / firmly / indirectly / inextricably / integrally / intrinsically / specifically / strongly / tightly) linked to sth To be associated / connected / interconnected / interlinked / interrelated with sth | To be closely / directly etc. connected / related to sb/sth | To be unconnected / unrelated to sth | To be unconnected with sth | To be not connected with / not related to sth To be closely / directly / inextricably / intimately / loosely / necessarily / obviously / somehow / in some way connected / linked with sth. To be connected / coupled / linked with sb/sth To be indissolubly / inescapably / inevitably / inexorably / inextricably / inseparably linked To carry out / conduct / undertake an analysis / an examination / an exploration / research / a study To clear up / correct / deal with / iron out / overcome / remedy / resolve / settle / solve / sort out / troubleshoot a problem To consider it essential / important / necessary to do sth | To consider it essential / important / necessary that To deem it necessary / prudent to do sth | To deem it necessary / prudent that To do an analysis / research / a study To entirely / largely / mainly / partly / solely / ultimately depend on / rest on sth To establish / identify / determine / ascertain what / how / when / where / why / whether… To establish / ascertain that… | It was established / ascertained that… To feel / look / seem / sound / taste like + noun/pronoun: She looks nothing like (= not at all like) her mother. ◊ It feels / seems like (= It seems to me) ages since we last spoke. ◊ That sounds like (= I think I can hear) him coming now. | To act / appear / be / behave / feel / look / seem / smell / sound / taste as if / as though + clause: She looked as if she'd had some bad news. ◊ They felt as though they had failed in their exams. ◊ He behaved as if nothing had happened. ◊ It sounds as though they had passed the exams. ◊ It looks like (= ‘as if/as though’) they going to face many problems as regards writing a short composition. To find sb amazing / cooperative / helpful / willing | To find sth / it amazing / difficult / easy / exciting / hard / important / interesting / necessary (to do sth) | To find sth / it amazing / difficult / easy / exciting / hard / important / necessary / interesting / significant that … To turn your attention / concentration / interest to sth ◊ To pay (no) attention / regard to sth ◊ To concentrate your attention / effort / energy / mind on sth ◊ To focus your attention / effort / energy / eyes / mind on/upon sth We are expected to put effort / hard work / our energies into … We are going to make an attempt to elaborate on … be + adjective (or participial adjective) + to + infinitive: be able to, be advised to, be afraid to, be alleged to, be allowed to, be anxious to, be appointed to, be ashamed to, be asked to, be assigned to, be authorized to, be believed to, be born to, be bound to, be careful to, be certain to, be claimed to, be compelled to, be considered to, be content to, be created to, be decided to, be delighted to, be designed Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 30 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS to, be determined to, be difficult to, be directed to, be disappointed to (find, learn, see, etc.), be disposed to, be distressed to (find, hear, learn, see, etc.), be disturbed to (discover, find, learn, see, etc.), be due to, be eager to, be easy to, be empowered to, be enabled to, be encouraged to, be entitled to, be estimated to, be expected to, be fit to, be forbidden to, be forced to, be found to, be free to, be glad to, be happy to, be hard to, be hoped to, be impelled to, be inclined to, be inspired to, be intended to, be interested to, be invited to, be keen to, be left to, be likely to, be loath to, be made to, be meant to, be motivated to, be obliged to, be permitted to, be pleased to, be prepared to, be projected to, be prone to, be qualified to, be ready to, be reluctant to, be required to, be resolved to, be sanctioned to, be scheduled to, be saddened to, be said to, be seen to, be set up to, be shocked to, be shown to, be silly to, be sorry to, be supposed to, be sure to, be surprised to, be tailored to, be tempted to, be tempting to, be thankful to, be thought to, be timed to, be timetabled to, be told to, be unable to, be unfit to, be unlikely to, be unqualified to, be unwilling to, be willing to, be wise to, be wont to, be wrong to, etc.: He is alleged to have mistreated the prisoners. ◊ They were forced to submit to foreign rule. ◊ We are expected to read more extensively and intensively.◊ We are delighted to meet you. ◊ These measures are designed to reduce pollution. ◊ She was loath to admit his mistake. ◊ She was ready to marry last year. ◊ The Queen is said to disapprove of antics of some of the younger members of the Royal Family.◊ He was wont to fall asleep after supper. ◊ You were wise to talk to him. However, be accustomed to, be alert to, be condemned to, be opposed to, be resigned to, be subject to, be subjected to, be used to, etc. + noun or -ing form: We need to be alert to potential pitfalls. ◊ They are now used to reading extensively. Another structure is It + be + adjective + (for …) to + infinitive: be annoying to, be difficult to, be easy to, be essential to, be hard to, be important to, be impossible to, be lovely to, be necessary to, be nice to, be pleasant to, be sad to, be strange to, be surprising to.: It is difficult to park these big cars. (= These big cars are difficult to park.) ◊ It is easy for a thief to break into this house. (= This house is easy for a thief to break into.) ◊ It is important (for a witness) to speak the truth. ◊ It would be lovely (for my wife) to meet you again. BUT: It would be a mistake to regard the incident as unimportant. NOTE: In terms of meaning and usage, there are other verbs and some others above that are called verb idioms (i.e. verbs that are regarded as auxiliary verbs which contain main verbs) that are followed by an infinitive (‘to-’ infinitive or bare infinitive). For example: be able to (for ability); be about to, be going to, be to (for future); be bound to, be certain to, be sure to, have got to, have to (for obligation or necessity that is definite and strong in meaning); be likely to, be supposed to, had better (for obligation or necessity that is less definite and weaker); be allowed to, be permitted to (for permission); and be willing to, would rather (for wishes or willingness): Our President is to reduce the taxes next year. ◊ We have got to study hard if we need to pass the exams. ◊ Everyone is bound to make mistakes. verb + -ing form/gerund: acknowledge, admit, adore, advise, aim at, appreciate, avoid, burst out (e.g. laughing), can’t help5, carry on, celebrate, commence, complete, consider (‘think about doing something’), contemplate, defer, delay, deny, detest, discontinue, discuss, dislike, dispute, dread, endure, enjoy, it entail(s), escape, excuse, explain, (can) face, fancy, feel like, finish, forbid, forgive, get through, give up, go, can’t help, hinder, imagine, it involve(s), keep (on), lie, loathe, it mean(s), mention, mind (‘object to’), miss, it necessitate(s), object, pardon, permit, postpone, practice, prevent, put off, quit, recall, recommend, regret, report, resent, resist, resume, risk, sit, spend (time), stand (‘be on one’s feet’), can’t stand, suggest, tolerate, understand, waste (time) + -ing form: I don’t feel like going out tonight. ◊ She enjoys studying maths. ◊ I detest having to get up when it’s dark outside. ◊ She couldn’t resist laughing at him in those clothes. ◊ I won’t tolerate lying. NOTE: Deny and regret are often followed by having + past participle: Susan denied/regrets having said anything. BUT there are some other patterns with “be + adjective (participial adjective)” that are used with an -ing form which can have so many different meanings according to the adjectives: be + adjective + preposition + -ing form (or noun), or be + adjective + into + -ing form (or noun): be / become / get / grow accustomed to, be afraid of, be aimed at, be angry about, be concerned with, be familiar with, be glad about, be happy about, be interested in, be jealous of, be known for, be nervous about, be proud of, be sad about, be successful in, be tired of, be upset about, be used for; be bludgeoned into, be bounced into, be browbeaten into, be bulldozed into, be bullied into, be coerced into, be dragooned into, be galvanized into, be press-ganged into, be pressured into, be pressurized into, be prodded into, be railroaded into, be shanghaied into, be startled into, be steamrollered into, be stunned into, be surprised into, be trapped into, be / become / get used to: Don’t be browbeaten into working more hours than you want. ◊ They were bludgeoned by their children into taking them to the zoo. ◊ We were railroaded / shanghaied into signing the agreement. ◊ The industry was galvanized into doing something about the problem. 5 BUT: can’t help but + base form: I can’t help but study hard in order to succeed in exams. Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 31 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS Verbs + Prepositions verb + preposition + -ing form/gerund or verb + preposition + noun phrase: adapt to, adjust to, admit to, agree on, apologize for, approve of, argue about, ask about, believe in, begin by, blame for, care about, close by, complain about, concentrate on, confess to, consist of, decide on, depend on, disapprove of, discourage from, dream about/of, end by, feel like, finish by, finish off/up, forget about, forgive for, help with, insist on, look forward to, object to, open by, own up to, plan on, prevent (somebody) from, refrain from, resort to, start by, start off/up, speak about/of, succeed in, talk about, think about/of, worry about + -ing form: We have concentrated on writing my essay. ◊ To abide by an agreement, conventions, a decision, a law, a policy, regulations, a rule, sb’s will, sb’s wishes.                           abide by sth (= to obey sth, to keep sth) account for sth or account (to sb) for sth accuse sb of sth add to sth adhere to sth (conventions, law, a policy, regulations, rules) admit of sth (= to allow something or make it possible) admit to sth (= confess to sth) agree about sth (a subject of discussion) agree on sth (a date, or a matter for decision) agree to sth (a change, an appointment, a decision, a plan, a proposal, a request, a scheme, a settlement, a suggestion, the term) agree with sb/sth (opinion, policy) aim at/for sth aim to sth allow for sth (= include sb/sth. E.g. possibility) allow of sth (= to make sth possible, e.g. evidence, a rule, a situation) allude to sb/sth amount to sth (= come to sth) apologize for sth/to sb (or apologise to sb for sth) appeal for/to sb/ sth appertain to sth apply for sth (a grant, job, patent, passport, permit, visa) apply sth (to sth) (= to put or spread sth such as paint, cream, etc. onto a surface) apply to sb/sth (= to use sth or make sth work in a particular situation; to concern or relate to sb/sth) apply to sth (a college, company, university) apply yourself (to sth / to doing sth) appoint sb (to sth) or appoint sb (as) sth (= to choose sb for a job or position of responsibility)                               approve of sb/sth argue for/with sb arrive at/in sth ask for sth (= to request sth [from sb]) assign sb to sth associate with sb or associate sth with sth attend to sb/sth attribute sth to sb or attribute sth to sb/sth (= ascribe sth to sb/sth) bank on sb/sth (= to rely on sb/sth) base sth on/upon sth be about sb/sth (= to be concerned with sb/sth) become of sb/sth believe in sb/sth (God, Angels, etc.) belong to sb/sth benefit from sth bind sb to sth (also be bound to sth) boast about/of sb/sth borrow sth from sb break into sth browse through sth (book, newspaper) budget for sth build on/upon sth (achievements, skills, strengths, success, etc. = to use a success or achievement as a base from which to achieve more success) build sth around/round sth (= to create sth, basing it on a particular idea, person, principle, or thing) build sth on/upon sth (= to base sth on sth; to use sth as the basis for sth) bump into sb (= run into sb) call for/on sth (= to require sth, to need sth) ≠ call forth sth (= to cause something to exist) call on/upon sb (= to visit sb) capitalize on/upon sth (experience, knowledge, sb’s lead, strength) care about/for sb carry out sth (an enquiry, an experiment, instructions, an investigation, an obligation, orders, a Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 32 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS                             policy, a poll, a recommendation, research, a study, a survey, etc.) centre / center (AmE) around/round sb/sth or centre / center (AmE) sb/sth around/round6 (= to be, or make sb/sth, the most important person or thing around which most activity takes place or focuses on) centre / center (AmE) on/upon sb/sth or centre / center (AmE) sb/sth on/upon7 (= to give a lot of attention to one particular subject, person, idea, etc.) charge sb with sth collide with sth come across sb/sth come by sth (= to obtain sth) come for/about sth come from somewhere/sth (= formal, hail from somewhere/sth) come to/into sth (a conclusion, a decision, an end, a leaf, a point, power, rest, sb’s attention) comment on/upon sth (= remark on sth) comment to sb (= observe / remark to sb) compare sb/sth with sb/sth complain (to sb) about/of sth complain of sth (a backache, a headache, illness) comply with sth (conventions, law, a policy, regulations, rules, sb’s will, sb’s wishes) conceive of sth (an idea, a plan, a situation, etc.) concentrate (sth) on sth or concentrate on doing sth confine sb/sth/yourself to sth conform to/with sth congratulate sb for/on sth consent to sth (a change, a plan, marriage, a proposal, a scheme) consider sb/sth (as) sth (= to think of sb/sth in a particular way) consist in sth (= to have something as a main and necessary part or quality) consist of sth (= to be made of or formed from something) contribute to sth convince sb of sth cope with sb/sth                               correspond (to sth) (= to be similar to or the same as sth else; to be equivalent to sth) correspond (with sb) (formal, to write letters to sb and receive letters from them) correspond to/with sth (= to be the same as or match sth) count on sb/sth count towards/toward sth couple with sth crash into sth cure sb of sth deal in sth (antiques, bonds, books, drugs, furniture, futures, guns, property, securities, shares, stocks, stolen goods) deal with sb/sth (= see about sb/sth) decide against sb/sth decide between A and B decide for/in favour of sb/sth decide on/upon sb/sth delve into sth (an issue, matter, reasons, sb’s past, a subject) depart for somewhere depart from somewhere / sth (decision, principles, rules, syllabus, tradition) depend on/upon sb/sth deprive sb of sth deprive sb/sth /yourself of sth derive from sth derive sth from sth describe sb/sth (to/for sb) or describe sb/sth (as sth) = to say what sb/sth is like desist (from sth /from doing sth) die by sth (pestilence, the sword, violence)8 die for sth (a cause, their beliefs / country) die from sth (cancer, heart attack, hunger, injuries, overwork, wounds)9 die of sth (illness, cancer, heart attack, hunger, injuries, starvation, thirst, wounds) differ from sth differentiate sth from sth direct against/at/towards sb or direct sth to/towards sth/sb or direct sth at/against sth/sb 8 6 7 This verb is often used in the passive. This verb is also often used in the passive. BUT die at the stake; die in an accident/an explosion/a fire/the war; die on the scaffold; die through neglect 9 The usual preposition after die is of: He died of a heart attack. You can also use from, especially when someone dies as a result of being injured: She was shot twice, and died later from her wounds. But do not use with after die. Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 33 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS                                 disagree with sb disapprove of sb/sth dispose of sb/sth dissent from sth distinguish sth from sth divide (sth) into sth do without sth draw on/upon sb/sth (a data, experience, findings, influence, information, knowledge, a range of styles, research, a reserve, savings, a theory) dream about/of sb/sth elaborate on/upon sth embark on/upon sth emerge from sth empathize with sb/sth enlarge on/upon sth enter into sth (an agreement, a conversation, a debate, a dialogue, a discussion, etc.) equip (sb/sth) with sth exclude (sb/sth) from sth explain sth about / to sth expose sb to sth or expose sb/sth / yourself (to sth) fail in sth feed sb/sth (on) sth or feed sth to sb/sth feel like sth or feel like doing sth (= to want sth, to want to do sth) fight against/with sb/sth fill in sth or fill (sth) (with sth) fill sb (with sth) ≠ fill sth (with sth) fire (sth) (at sb/sth) or fire (sth) (into sth) or fire (on sb/sth) focus (sth) (on sb/sth) (= to adjust sth so that we can see things clearly) focus on/upon sth or focus (sth) (on/upon sb/sth) (= to give undivided attention, effort, etc. to one particular subject, situation or person rather than another) gaze at sb (= to look steadily at sb/sth for a long time, either because you are very interested or surprised, or because you are thinking of sth else) = stare at sb/sth get in/into sth (a small boat, car, taxi) get off sth (a bicycle / bike, bus, horse, motorcycle / motorbike, plane, ship, train) get on/onto sth (a bicycle / bike, bus, horse, motorcycle / motorbike, plane, ship, train)                                    get out of sth (a small boat, car, taxi) get rid of sb/sth give sth in (= to give a piece of written work or a document to someone for them to read, judge or deal with) give up sth glance at sb ≠ glance around/round sth glance at/down/over/through sth (= to read sth quickly and not thoroughly, to scan) glare at sb/sth (= to look at sb/sth in an angry way) = glower (at sb/sth) go through sth (= to look at or examine sth carefully, especially in order to find sth; to follow a method or procedure) go to somewhere (= to move to somewhere, to reach somewhere) go without sth grin at sb (= to smile widely) guard against sth head for somewhere/sth (disaster, poverty, recession, etc. Also be heading for sth or be headed for sth especially in AmE) hear about/of sb/sth or hear sth of sb/sth hear from sb or hear sth from sb hinge on/upon sth (= informal, hang on sth) hint at sth (= to suggest sth indirectly) hope for sth include sb/sth (as/in/on sth) inform sb of/about sth inform yourself (of/about sth) insist on/upon sth interest sb/yourself in sth interfere in sth interfere with sb/sth introduce sb to sb/sth or introduce sth to sb introduce yourself (to sb) jab at sb/sth (with sth) jibe with sth (AmE, to agree with sth) join in sth jostle for sth (= to compete strongly with other people for sth) keep (sb) at sth keep after sb (about sth/to do sth) = to ask or tell sb repeatedly to do sth keep on sth/doing sth (= carry on sth/doing sth, go on sth/doing sth) key into sth (= to access sth) Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 34 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS                                 10 key on sth (AmE, to focus on sth or begin to pay attention to it) knock at/on sth know about/of sth know sb/sth as sth know sb/sth as sth or know sb/sth for sth know sb/sth from sb/sth labour / labor (AmE) under sth10 (delusion, illusion, impression, misapprehension [that …]) laugh about/at sb/sth lead sb (to sth) (= to be the reason why sb does or thinks sth) lead to sth (= result in sth) learn (sth) (from sb/sth) learn about/of sth leave for somewhere leave from somewhere lie (in sth) (= to exist or be found; speaking about ideas, qualities, problems, etc.) lie about/around sth lie behind sth (= to be the real reason for sth, often hidden) light on/upon sb/sth (= alight on/upon sb/sth) limit sth to sb/sth listen to sb live by sth (principles, rules, standards) live for sb/sth live on sth long for sb/sth look after yourself/sb/sth (= to be responsible for or take care of sb/sth) look around/round sth look at sb/sth (= point one’s eyes at)11 look for sb/sth (= try to find, search for) look into sth (= to examine closely) look on sb/sth as sb/sth (= to consider b/sth to be sb/sth) look on sb/sth with sth (= to consider sb/sth in a particular way; to regard sb as sth / as being sth) look over sth or look sth over (= examine sth to see how good, big, etc. it is) This verb is often used in the progressive tenses: The student was labouring under the impression that her assignment was very good. 11 BUT: look down on (= have a low opinion of); look forward to (= expect with pleasure); look out for (= expect); look up to (= respect).                                look through sth (= to examine or read sth quickly) look to sth (= to rely on sth; to consider sth and think about how to make it better) make for somewhere/sth (e.g. the centre of the town, happy marriage, etc. = make towards sth/sb, move towards sth) measure sb/sth/yourself against sb/sth meditate on/upon sth (= to contemplate / ponder / think / wonder about sth; to deliberate / ponder / reflect / think on sth; to deliberate / meditate / mull / ponder / think over sth) mistake sb/sth for sb/sth (= take sb/sth for sb/sth) mull over sth or mull sth over (= meditate on/upon sth) nag at sth (= to keep asking sb to do sth; to irritate sb continuously) name sb/sth after sb/sth (AmE also name sb/sth for sb/sth) nibble at sth (= to eat sth by taking very small bite; to show a slight interest in sth) number sb/sth among sth (= count sb/sth among sth) object to sb/sth occur to sb (= to come into your mind) operate on sb (for sth) (a patient) part from sb or part sb from sb part with sth (= to give sth to someone else especially sth that you would prefer to keep) partake of sth participate in sth pass by sb/sth (= to go past) pay (sb) (for sth) (= to give sb money for work, goods, services, etc.) pay sth (to sb) = pay (sb) sth (= to give sb money that you owe them) persuade sb (into sth / into doing sth) persuade sb (out of sth / out of doing sth) persuade sb/sth of sth plan (on sth/on doing sth) play for sth (a team) point at/to sb/sth ponder about/on/over sth (= meditate on/upon sth) pray (to sb) (for sb/sth) pray for sth prefer sb/sth to sb/sth Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 35 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS                               12 preside at / over sth prevent sb/sth from sth/from doing sth probe sth into sth (= delve into sth) protect sb/sth from sb/sth provide sb/sth with sb/sth put forward sth12 or put sb/sth forward (an argument, a claim, a hypothesis, an idea, a name, an opinion, a plan, a point of view, a proposal, a solution, a suggestion, a theory, a view) qualify (sb) for sth qualify as sth quarrel about/over sth or quarrel with sb/sth quiver with sth (anger, excitement, fear, indignation, nervousness, rage) react against sb/sth react to sth (by doing sth) reason with sb reduce sth to sth or reduce sth from sth or reduce sth by sth refer to sb/sth (as sth) reflect on/upon sth (= meditate on/upon sth) refrain (from sth/from doing sth) regard sb/sth (with sth) or regard sb/sth as sth (= to think about sb/sth in a particular way) rejoice at/in/over sth relate A to B relate sth (to sb) (= to give a spoken or written report of sth; to tell a story) relate to sth/sb (= to be connected with sth/sb; to refer to sth/sb) relieve sb of sth rely on/upon sb/sth (= count on sb/sth) remark on/upon sb/sth remind sb of sb/sth repent of sth reply (to sb/sth) (with sth) (= to say or write sth as an answer to sb/sth) reply (to sth) (with sth) (= to do sth as a reaction to sth that sb has said or done) resign (from sth) or resign (as sth) Do not confuse put forward sth with come up with sth which means ‘to think of an idea, an answer or a plan to a question or a solution to a problem’ (a / an answer, design, evidence, explanation, formula, idea, innovation, invention, plan, recommendation, result, retort, scheme, slogan, solution, suggestion, version). However, put sth forward (or AmE, put sb/sth forth) means ‘to state an idea or opinion, or to suggest a plan (or person) so that it can be considered or discussed’.                            resign yourself to sth / doing sth (= to accept sth unpleasant that cannot be changed or avoided) resort to sth (bribery, force, ploy, remedy, rhetoric, tactic, terror, violence) respond (to sb/sth) (with sth) (= to give a spoken or written answer to sb/sth) respond (to sth) (= to improve as a result of a particular kind of treatment) respond (to sth) (with sth / by doing sth) (= to do sth as a reaction to sth that sb has said or done) respond (to sth/sb) (= to react quickly or in the correct way to sth/sb) rest on/upon sb/sth (= to depend or rely on sb/sth; to look at sb/sth) rest on sth (= to be based on sth) restrict sth (to sb) (= to control sth with rules or laws) restrict sth (to sth) (= to limit the size, amount or range of sth) restrict yourself/sb (to sth/to doing sth) result (from sth) (= to happen because of sth else that happened first) result in sth (= to make sth happen; to lead to sth) revise for sth (= prepare for / review for sth) revolve around/round sb/sth rob sb/sth of sth run across sb/sth (= to meet sb or find sth by chance) run after sb/sth (= to run to try to catch sb/sth) run for sth run into sb/sth (= to crash into sb/sth) run into sth (= to enter an area because of bad weather while travelling) run into sth (danger, difficulties, trouble, etc.) = to experience difficulties, etc. run out (of sth) (= to use up or finish a supply of sth) say sth to sb search (sth) (for sth/sb) (= to look carefully for sth/sb; to examine a particular place when looking for sb/sth) search sb (for sth) (especially of the police, to examine sb’s clothes, their pockets, etc. in order to find sth that they may be hiding) see sb (about sth) (= to have a meeting with sb) Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 36 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS                         see sb/sth (as sth) (= to imagine sb/sth as sth) see through sb/sth (= to realize the truth about sb/sth) see about sth (= to deal with sth) sentence sb to sth serve (sb) as sth or serve in/on/with sth) or serve under/with sb (= to work or perform duties for a person, an organization, a country, etc.) serve as sth shake with sth (anger, emotion, fear, laughter, nervousness, rage, sobs) share sth with sb shiver with sth (anger, cold, delight, excitement, fear, horror, illness, pleasure) shout (sth) at sb (= to be aggressive with sb) shout to sb (= to call [out] to sb) side with sb(against sb/sth) (= to support one person or group in an argument against sb else) sit at sth (a desk)13 smile at sb/sth speak (with sb) (about sth/sb) or speak (to sb) (about sth/sb) speak about/of/to sb or speak with sb (AmE) speak of/about sth/sb (= to mention or describe sth/sb) spend sth (on sth / on doing sth) (= to give money to pay for goods, services, etc.) spend sth (on sth) or spend sth (doing sth/in doing sth) (= to use time for a particular purpose; to pass time) stand (on sth) (= to have a particular attitude or opinion about sth or towards sb) stand at sth (= to be at a particular level, amount, height, etc.) stand for sth (= to represent sth, to support sth) stare (at sb/sth) (= to look at sb/sth for a long time) stem from sth (idea/misunderstanding /problem/shortcoming stems from … ; … stems from a fact) = to be the result of sth stick to sth (agreement, basics, belief, brief, budget, diet, fact, guideline, plan,                                principle, recipe, rule, schedule, story, subject) struggle (with sb) (for sth) (= to compete or argue with sb, especially in order to get sth) struggle against/with sb/sth struggle for sth subject sb/sth to sth succeed (in sth) or succeed (as sth) (= to be successful in your job, earning money, power, respect, etc.) succeed in doing sth (= to have the result or effect that was intended) suffer from/for sth supply sb/sth (with sth) or supply sth (to sb/sth) suspect sb (of sth/of doing sth) sympathize with sb/sth take after sb take in sth or take sth in take sb/sth by sth14 take sth (as sth) take sth (from sb) take sth from sth/out of sth take to sb/sth (= to start liking sb/sth) talk (to/with sb) (about sb/sth) or talk of/on sth tamper with sth (= to change sth without permission; to interfere with sth) target at sb/sth tell of sth (formal or literary, to make sth known; to give an account of sth) tell sb about sth or tell sth to sb (= to tell sb sth) thank sb (for sth/for doing sth) think about/of sb/sth think of sb/sth as sb/sth (= to consider sb/sth in a particular way) think through sth or think sth through (= to consider a problem or a possible course of action fully) throw sth to sb (i.e. in a game etc.) tie sb (to sth/to doing sth) (= to restrict sb and make them unable to do everything they want to) tie sb/sth to sb/sth translate sth into sth or translate (sth) (from sth) (into sth) or translate sth (as sth) treat sb to sth (= to entertain sb with sth special) 13 Also sit at a table. However: sit on a bench / on a chair / on a sofa; sit in an arm-chair / in a tree or up a tree. A bird sometimes perches (= sits) on a tree. 14 Also catch by, grasp by, hold by, seize by, snatch by. But grab at/for something Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 37 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS                  treat sb/sth (with/as/like sth) (= to behave in a particular way towards sb/sth) treat sth as sth (= to consider sth in a particular way) tremble with sth (anger, cold, emotion, excitement, fear, horror, rage) trip on/over sth turn on sb (= to attack sb suddenly and unexpectedly) turn on sth (= to depend on sth; to have sth as it main topic) turn over sth or turn sth over turn to sb/sth (= to go to sb/sth for help, advice, etc.) urge sth on/upon sb (= to recommend sth strongly) venture into/on/upon sth verge on/upon sth (= to be very close or similar to an extreme state or condition) vest in sb/sth (= to belong to sb/sth legally, speaking of power, property, etc.) vest sth in sb/sth or vest sb with sth vie with sb/sth (for sth/to do sth) or vie for sth (= to compete strongly with sb/sth) vouch for sb/sth (= to say that you know from experience that something is true or good, or that someone is honest and has a good character) wait for sb/sth wait on sb (= to act as a servant to sb, especially by serving food to them)                    warn (sb) (about / against sb/sth) warn sb of sth watch for sb/sth watch over sb/sth (= formal, to take care of sb/sth; to guard and protect sb/sth) wean sb/yourself off/from sth (= to make sb/ yourself gradually stop doing sth or using sth that is bad or harmful) wish for sth work on sb (= to try to persuade sb to agree to sth or to do sth) work on sth worry (about/over sb/sth) worry sb (with sth) (= to annoy or disturb sb) worry sb/yourself (about sb/sth) (= to make sb/yourself anxious about sb/sth) write (sth) (about/on sth) write about/of/to sb write down sth or write sth down write in sth (charcoal, ink) write with sth (e.g. pen, pencil) (also paint with a brush) yield (to sth/sb) (= to stop resisting sth/sb; to agree to do sth that you do not want to do) yield to sth (= formal, to be replaced by sth) zone sth (for sth) (= to keep an area of land to be used for a particular purpose; to divide an area of land into smaller areas) verb + indirect object (somebody/something) / clause + to be (or other infinitive forms) + adjective / noun: accept, acknowledge, arrange (for), assume, believe, calculate, certify, consider, declare, deem, deny, discover, estimate, fancy, feel (= consider), figure, find (= consider), gauge/gage, guess, hold, imagine, infer, intend, judge, know, mean, maintain, perceive, prefer, presume, pretend, proclaim, profess, pronounce, prove, reckon, recognize, remember, report, request, require, see, sense, show, state, suppose, suspect, take (= presume), think, understand. She considers me to be a good teacher for her. ◊ I declare him to be the winner. ◊ We are known to have good moral standard of living. ◊ Under the Mosaic Law, dogs were deemed to be unclean animals. ◊ This book is generally held to be her greatest novel. ◊ It is generally taken to be a colossal blunder. NOTE: These verbs are usually used in passive structures. Other infinitive forms (i.e. a few stative verbs) are sometimes possible. These verbs are very frequently used in the passive voice and can often be followed by passive infinitives: She is believed to be going/to have gone to the USA. ◊ I figured him to be well over 40. ◊ He is thought to have been killed in an air crash. However all these verbs (except take – I take it (that) …) can also be followed directly by that-clauses (I assume (that) …). A few verbs like believe, expect, intend, like, love, mean, prefer, understand, want and wish can be followed by there to be: I expect there to be a big response to our advertisement. BUT appear to be sb/sth, pretend to be sth (asleep, calm, good, innocent, intelligent, interested; an expert / a scholar, etc.) and seem to be sb/sth have, needless to say, a complement after ‘to be’: He pretended to be asleep. Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 38 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS NOTE: Most of the verbs above can also have the following patterns: to calculate / estimate / extrapolate / figure / guess / judge / reckon that … | to calculate / estimate / figure / gauge / guess / judge / work out how far / how many / how much / what, etc. Verbs + Nouns: DELEXICAL VERBS and Other Verbal Collocations Delexical verbs refer to common verbs (do, get, give, go, have, make, take) that combine with nouns to describe an action. The lexical meanings expressed by the verbs become weak (do some listening, have a swim, take a walk). In such constructions, the nouns are referred to as deverbal nouns. Delexical structures or expressions often offer informal equivalent to a full lexical verb phrase (get a divorce = divorce; do some painting = paint). In this list we have only used the verbs do, make, and take. However, get was substituted by achieve and accomplish, give by provide, have by possess, do sometimes by conduct / undertake (e.g. conduct / undertake research, or carry out research etc.), and make sometimes by draw (e.g. draw a conclusion / an inference etc.) on the grounds that they sound rather formal for academic writing. The verb ‘go’ was not used in this list owing to its somewhat informal usage. For example, its equivalent ‘depart’ is used in the following structures: To depart for somewhere (= ‘go to’) ≠ to depart from somewhere (= ‘come from’). NOTE: Needless to say, in this list we are going to see verbs followed by nouns. A large number of those nouns are countable, while other nouns are uncountable. For this reason, we have put the determiner a/an in brackets (a / an), meaning that we can use it whenever or wherever possible. For example: talk about (a / an) approach, experience, feeling, idea, incident, issue, matter, method, point, politics, problem, strategy, subject, tactic, technique, topic, etc. Additionally, some verbs are used after some particular nouns which function as subject. In this respect, under those verbs we have written something like ‘among other nouns, the verb talk about is used with these nouns as the subject: article, book, dissertation, journal, monograph, paper, paragraph, passage, report, text, thesis, work, etc.’ or ‘among other nouns, the verb centre (BrE) / center (AmE) on/upon (= ‘centre/center around’) is used with these nouns as the subject: case, controversy, criticism, debate, disagreement, discussion, speculation, talk, etc.’. For example: The article talks about … ◊ This discussion has been centered upon … . BUT In a more formal writing, it tends to be preferable to use ‘speak about’, ‘speak of’, or ‘be concerned with’ instead. Some nouns have different spellings, the first one is widely used in British English (BrE) and the second one is especially used in American English (AmE). In this regard, we have used the shortened form of these expressions. achieve (a / an) acceptance, accuracy, aim, ambition, aspiration, balance, breakthrough, ceasefire, clarity, climax, closure, coherence, competence, conformity, consensus, consistency, control, disarmament, distinction, distribution, diversity, dominance, domination, dream, economy, effect, effectiveness, efficiency, end, equality, erection, excellence, expression, fairness, fame, feat, finish, fit, flight, fluency, freedom, gain, goal, grade, greatness, growth, happiness, harmony, height, ideal, immortality, impact, implementation, improvement, increase, independence, integration, intimacy, justice, level, liberation, literacy, look, majority, margin, mastery, maximum, milestone, notoriety, objective, orgasm, outcome, penetration, perfection, popularity, position, potential, proficiency, profitability, progress, prominence, prosperity, purpose, rank, rating, ratio, realism, recognition, reconciliation, recovery, reduction, representation, resolution, respectability, result, return, revolution, sale, salvation, saving, score, serenity, settlement, solution, stability, standard, stardom, stature, status, success, superiority, target, tenure, total, transformation, understanding, unification, uniformity , unity, velocity, victory, vision, wealth BUT accomplish is used with the following nouns as the object, such as (a / an) aim, end, feat, mission, objective, purpose, task Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 39 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS Address (= ‘approach, deal with, solve’) (a / an) argument, aspect, audience, bias, cause, chair, challenge, class, complaint, complexity, congregation, congress, convention, correspondence, crisis, criticism, crowd, deficit, disagreement, disparity, divide, envelope, failing, gap, gathering, grievance, imbalance, impact, implication, inequality, issue, letter, limitation, matter, meeting, misconception, need, objection, paradox, parliament, point, problem, question, rally, remark, risk, role, session, shortage, shortcoming, situation, subject, theme, threat, topic, vulnerability, weakness But approach (= ‘deal with’) (a) death, matter, problem, subject, task, topic | deal with (a / an) affair, aftermath, anxiety, aspect, backlog, business, call, complaint, correspondence, crisis, customer, difficulty, dispute, disturbance, emergency, emotion, enquiry, finance, formality, grief, hazard, incident, injury, issue, mail, matter, mess, paperwork, problem, query, question, red tape, rejection, relationship, request, revolt, shortage, situation, subject, tantrum, thing, topic, unrest, vermin, waste | resolve (a / an) ambiguity, ambivalence, complaint, conflict, controversy, crisis, deadlock, debate, difference, difficulty, dilemma, disagreement, discrepancy, dispute, doubt, impasse, inconsistency, issue, matter, mess, mystery, paradox, problem, query, question, situation, squabble, tension, uncertainty | solve (a / an) case, challenge, conflict, crime, crisis, crossword, difficulty, dilemma, disagreement, disappearance, dispute, equation, murder, mystery, paradox, predicament, problem, puzzle, shortage | tackle (a / an) blaze, challenge, corruption, crime, crisis, debt, deficit, disorder, intruder, issue, matter, opponent, pollution, problem, question, racism, shortage, spread, subject, task, topic, truancy, unemployment, vandalism Among other nouns, deal with (= ‘be about, be concerned with’, ‘refer to’) is used with these nouns as the subject: article, chapter, document, film, paper, report, review, staff, study, survey, talk, writing carry out (a / an) abortion, act, action, alteration, ambush, analysis, appraisal, assassination, assault, assessment, assignment, atrocity, attack, autopsy, ballot, blitz, census, check, chore, command, contract, conversion, crime, duty, engagement, enquiry, evaluation, examination, excavation, execution, exercise, experiment, exploration, explosion, fieldwork, function, hold-up, improvement, inspection, instruction, interview, invasion, investigation, job, killing, maintenance, manoeuvre, massacre, measurement, mission, modification, murder, obligation, operation, order, patrol, plan, policy, poll, post-mortem, procedure, programme, project, raid, recommendation, reconnaissance, reform, renovation, reorganization, repair, research, responsibility, restoration, review, revolution, scan, scheme, search, sentence, simulation, strike, study, surveillance, survey, task, test, threat, transaction, transformation, transplant, trial, valuation, wish, work cause (a / an) abscess, accident, acne, addiction, agony, ailment, alarm, allergy, alteration, amusement, anarchy, anger, anguish, annoyance, antagonism, anxiety, apprehension, argument, attack, backlash, bankruptcy, bitterness, blast, bleeding, blockage, bloodshed, boom, bother, breach, breakdown, breakup, build-up, burn, cancellation, cancer, casualty, cataract, catastrophe, change, chaos, closure, colic, collapse, collision, comment, commotion, complication, concern, conflict, confusion, congestion, consternation, constipation, contamination, controversy, convulsion, corrosion, crash, crime, crisis, damage, danger, death, decay, decline, decrease, defect, deficiency, deformity, dehydration, delay, demise, depletion, depression, destruction, deterioration, devastation, diarrhoea (BrE) / diarrhea (AmE), difficulty, disability, disagreement, disappearance, disaster, discomfort, discontent, discord, disease, disillusionment, dismay, disorder, dispute, disruption, dissatisfaction, dissent, distortion, distraction, distress, disturbance, division, downfall, drop, drought, earthquake, embarrassment, epidemic, erosion, error, eruption, excitement, explosion, extinction, failure, fall, famine, fatigue, fear, feeling, fever, fight, fire, fit, flood, fluctuation, flutter, frenzy, friction, frustration, furore (also furor), fury, fuss, grief, hallucination , handicap, hardship, harm, havoc, hazard, headache, hurt, hysteria, illness, imbalance, impotence, incident, inconvenience, increase, inefficiency, inequality, infection, infertility, inflammation, inflation, injury, injustice, instability, irritation, jealousy, landslide, leak, leukaemia (BrE) / leukemia (AmE), loss, mess, migraine, miscarriage, mischief, misery, mishap, misunderstanding, mortality, mutation, nausea, obstruction, offence, outage, outbreak, outcry, outrage, pain, panic, paralysis, pneumonia, poisoning, pollution, problem, rash, reaction, recession, reduction, relapse, relaxation, resentment, revolt, revulsion, rift, riot, ripple, row, scandal, scare, scene, sensation, shame, shift, shortage, sickness, side effect, smash, sore, sorrow, spasm, speculation, split, stagnation, stink, stir, stoppage, storm, strain, stress, strife, suffering, surprise, suspicion, swelling, symptom, syndrome, tension, tornado, traffic jam, tragedy, transformation , tremor, trouble, turmoil, uncertainty, unease, unemployment, unhappiness, unrest, upheaval, uproar, upset, vandalism, vibration, waste, wave, weakness, wear, worry, wreck Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 40 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS Among other nouns, the verb cause is used with these nouns as the subject: earthquake, explosion, factor, flood, fluctuation, gene, illness, imbalance, incident, infection, injury, movement, mutation, parasite, shortage, stress, virus cite (a / an) article, author, authority, case, concern, evidence, example, figure, incident, instance, paper, passage, precedent, quotation, reason, reference, report, research, scripture, source, statistics conduct (a / an) activity, affair, analysis, assault, assessment, auction, autopsy, band, blitz, business, campaign, census, ceremony, check, choir, class, concerto, current, defence, demonstration, diplomacy, election, electricity, enquiry, espionage, evaluation, examination, excavation, exercise, experiment, fieldwork, funeral, hearing, heat, inquest, inspection, interrogation, interview, inventory, investigation, litigation, manoeuvre, meeting, mission, negotiation, operation, orchestra, patrol, poll, post-mortem, premiere, procedure, programme, raid, reconnaissance, referendum, registration, rehearsal, research, review, ritual, search, seminar, simulation, study, surveillance, survey, symphony, talk, test, tour, trade, transaction, trial, vendetta, visit, warfare, wedding, work, workshop, worship draw (a / an) admiration, analogy, angle, applause, arrow, attention, audience, bath, baton, beer, benefit, blade, blind, blood, border, boundary, bow, breath, caricature, cart, cartoon, character, cheque, chuckle, circle, cloak, comfort, comment, comparison, conclusion, condemnation, connection, consolation, contrast, criticism, cross, crowd, curtain, customer, dagger, diagram, distinction, district, dole, drape, encouragement, example, finger, fire, foul, game, glance, graph, gun, idea, immigrant, implication, inference, inspiration, interest, knife, laugh, laughter, lesson, likeness, line, map, match, moisture, moral, nourishment, opposition, outline, parallel, pension, picture, pint, pistol, plan, plough, portrait, praise, raffle, rebuke, response, retort, revolver, salary, sample, shade, shape, shawl, shopper, sign, sketch, spectator, strength, support, suspicion, sword, tourist, traffic, triangle, truncheon, veil, viewer, visitor, wagon, weapon, wrath employ (a / an) agent, approach, architect, army, assistant, consultant, contractor, crew, design, employee, firm, force, imagery, immigrant, labourer, measure, mercenary, metaphor, method, phrase, practice, procedure, reasoning, rhetoric, servant, staff, strategy, tactic, tank, technique, technology, trainee, trick, tutor, violence, worker, workforce Among other nouns, employ is used with these nouns as the subject: college, firm, method, workshop hold (a / an) account, animosity, appeal, appointment, arm, assembly, asset, association, attention, attraction, auction, audition, axe, baby, bag, ball, ballot, banner, banquet, bat, baton, belief, bouquet, bow, breath, briefcase, briefing, bundle, card, cash, castle, celebration, ceremony, certificate, chair, championship, charm, citizenship, class, clinic, clue, collection, competition, composure, concert, conference, congress, consultation, contest, convention, conversation, conviction, copyright, court martial, dance, data, debate, degree, demonstration, dialogue, dinner, diploma, discussion, dividend, doctorate , driving licence, edge, election, enquiry, evening, event, exhibition, expectation, expression, fair, fascination, feast, festival, file, final, fire, fort, fortress, forum, franchise, function, gala, game, gathering, gaze, grenade, grudge, gun, hand, handbag, head, hearing, hope, hostage, idea, initiative, inquest, interview, key, knife, land, lantern, lead, lease, lecture, licence, line, liquor, lottery, luncheon, majority, malice, march, market, meet, meeting, membership, memorial, memory, misconception, moisture, monopoly, mortgage, mystery, news conference, note, office, opinion, parade, party, passport, patent, permit, phone, place, position, post, post-mortem, potential, power, prejudice, presidency, press conference, prisoner, promise, property, purse, qualification, quiz, race, raffle, rally, rank, rate, receiver, reception, record, referendum, rehearsal, rein, resentment, retreat, reunion, review, right, ritual, rope, round, sale, seat, secret, security, seminar, service, session, shape, share, shield, shotgun, show, spear, spoon, stereotype, stick, stock, stomach, stretch, suitcase, summit, surgery, suspect, sword, talk, tenancy, territory, theory, ticket, title, tongue, torch, tournament, trial, trophy, tune, umbrella, value, view, viewpoint, vigil, vote, weight, wheel, whip, workshop keep (a / an) account, animal, appointment, archive, attention, balance, ball, bearing, blog, bodyguard, book, breed, cat, cattle, change, charm, check, chicken, collection, company, composure, confidence, contact, control, copy, count, customer, date, diary, dignity, distance, dog, edge, engagement, fast, figure, file, fish, flavour, flow, focus, food, footing, front, garden, goat, grip, hen, hold, hostage, hour, house, identity, interest, job, journal, lead, log, memento, minute, Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 41 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS mistress, monopoly, name, negative, nerve, note, notebook, oath, order, pace, patience, peace, perspective, pet, pig, place, possession, poultry, profile, promise, receipt, record, register, rendezvous, resolution, rhythm, Sabbath, sanity, score, seat, secret, self-control, self-respect, semblance, sense, shape, sheep, shop, sight, silence, slave, spotlight, stance, statistics, status quo, stock, store, temper, tension, thread , time, title, trust, value, vigil, vow, watch, word perform (a / an) ballet, abortion, act, action, activity, analysis, antics, assessment, autopsy, bypass, calculation, census, ceremony, chore, comparison, composition, concert, concerto, dance, deed, demonstration, display, duty, euthanasia, evaluation, exam, examination, exercise, experiment, feat, function, imitation, injection, inspection, job, magic, maintenance, management, manoeuvre, measurement, miracle, mission, motion, move, movement, music, operation, piece, procedure, recital, reconnaissance, reconstruction, repair, repertoire, repetition, rescue, research, resuscitation, review, ritual, role, routine, sacrifice, scan, search, service, simulation, sketch, solo, song, spell, step, stunt, surgery, survey, symphony, task, test, transfusion, transplant, trick, U-turn, work play (a / an) ball, bar, baseball, basketball, blues, bridge, card, cassette, CD, character, chess, chord, circuit, clip, comedy, composition, concert, concerto, cricket, defence, dice, disc, drum, DVD, encore, excerpt, fanfare, festival, fixture, football, game, gig, golf, hand, havoc, hero, hockey, host, house, hunch, hymn, instrument, jazz, joke, lead, lottery, march, market, martyr, match, measure, melody, move, movement, movie, music, note, part, pass, passage, piece, politics, pop, position, rally, recital, record, recording, repertoire, role, round, rugby, run, scale, scene, score, selection, set, single, snooker, soccer, soldier, solo, song, sport, stroke, symphony, system, tackle, tape, team, tennis, tournament, track, trick, truant, tune, venue, video, villain, waltz, work possess (a / an) ability, acumen, asset, attribute, authority, capability, capacity, characteristic, charm, dignity, firearm, gift, instinct, know-how, knowledge, library, power, property, qualification, quality, record, sense, skill, strength, symmetry, talent, track record, trait, understanding, virtue, vision, wealth, weapon provide (a / an) abundance, access, accommodation, accompaniment, account, advice, aid, alibi, alternative, amenity, amusement, answer, antidote, approximation, arena, array, assessment, assistance, assurance, atmosphere, avenue, backdrop, background, backing, base, basis, benefit, bibliography, blueprint, boost, breakdown, buffer, camouflage, capital, care, challenge, chance, check, checklist, clarity, closure, clue, coherence, commentary, companionship, company, compensation, competition, condom, confirmation, consent, consistency, consolation, consultation, consumer, contact, content, context, continuity, contraception, contrast, convenience, coordination, counsel, counselling, cover, coverage, crèche, credibility, credit, critique, cue, cure, data, definition, demonstration, depth, description, detail, deterrent, diagnosis, dimension, direction, distraction, diversion, education, efficiency, electricity, employment, encouragement, energy, enjoyment, entertainment, environment, equipment, equivalent, escape, escort, essentials, estimate, evidence, example, excerpt, excuse, exemption, experience, expertise, explanation, exposure, facility, feast, feedback, finale, finance, finish, flavour, flexibility, flow, focal point, focus, foil, food, foothold, footing, force, forecast, formula, forum, foundation, framework, freedom, fuel, fulfilment, fund, funding, glimpse, goods, grant, grounding, groundwork, guarantee, guidance, guide, guideline, habitat, hardware, haven, heat, heating, help, hope, hospitality, housing, identification, illumination, illusion, illustration, imagery, immunity, impediment, impetus, impression, improvement, incentive, income, index, indication, indicator, inducement, information, ingredient, injection, input, insight, inspiration, instance, instruction, insurance, intelligence, introduction, job, justification, leadership, lesson, lever, leverage, lifeline, light, lighting, link, livelihood, living, loan, look, maintenance, management, manpower, margin, means, measure, mechanism, ministry, model, momentum, money, motivation, motive, music, narrative, nourishment, nutrition, opening, opportunity, option, outlet, outline, overview, package, parallel, password, pension, perspective, physiotherapy, pleasure, point, pointer, portrayal, power, precedent, pretext, proof, protection, quotation, range, ration, reading, reason, reassurance, receipt, recommendation, reconnaissance, record, recruit, reference, reflection, refreshment, refuge, refund, reinforcement, relief, remedy, reminder, report, representation, reprieve, reproduction, research, resolution, resource, respite, result, return, review, reward, role, safeguard, sample, sanctuary, satisfaction, scope, seating, security, sense, service, session, setting, shade, shelter, shield, short Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 42 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS cut, snack, solace, solution, soundtrack, source, space, spark, specification, specimen, spur, stability, standard, starting point, statistics, stimulation, stimulus, storage, subsidy, substitute, suggestion, summary, supervision, supplement, supply, support, taste, test, testimony, text, tip, tool, training, translation, transport, transportation, treatment, troops, tuition, turning point, tutorial, understanding, update, value, ventilation, venue, verification, view, viewpoint, visibility, vitamin, volunteer, voucher, warmth, warning, warranty, wealth, yardstick put (a / an) ad, advert, advertisement, ban, bet (on), blame (on), bomb, bullet, burden, capital, case, ceiling, clip, complexion, confidence, constraint, cost, cross, curb, curse (on), cursor, dent, effort (into), embargo, emphasis (on), end (to), energy, everything (into), faith (in), figure (on), finger, focus, foot, halt, hand, head, hex (on), hope, idea (into), initial, knife, limit, money (into, on), moratorium, motion, needle, palm, perspective, point of view, premium, pressure (on), price (on), query, question, question mark, restriction, saving, signature, slant, something (into), sparkle, spell (on), spin, spotlight, squeeze, stamp, stitch, stop (to), strain (on), strength, stress, surcharge, tag, tax (on), time, touch, trust (in), value (on), watch, weight, words (into) quote (a / an) article, author, excerpt, figure, lyrics, maxim, odds, paragraph, passage, phrase, price, reference, report, scripture, source, word set (a / an) agenda, aim, alarm, assignment, bail, boundary, budget, ceiling, clock, condition, course, criterion, date, deadline, dial, diamond, direction, exam, examination, example, expectation, fashion, fee, foundation, framework, fuse, goal, groundwork, harp, homework, jaw, level, lever, limit, lyrics, margin, mark, meeting, mood, objective, pace, paper, pattern, place, policy, precedent, price, priority, quota, rate, record, restriction, scene, seed, speed limit, stage, standard, stone, table, target, tariff, task, tempo, term, test, text, threshold, time, timetable, tone, trap, trend, value, VCR, video, wage, watch set up (a / an) ambush, appointment, archive, assembly, barricade, barrier, base, branch, business, camera, camp, checkpoint, commission, committee, commune, company, convent, council, crèche, database, dictatorship, discussion, diversion, drip, enquiry, expectation, experiment, factory, farm, firm, force, foundation, fund, group, headquarters, health service, hotline, house, household, initiative, institute, league, machine, machinery, meeting, militia, mission, monarchy, monopoly, movement, network, panel, partnership, petition, programme, project, regime, roadblock, scenery, scheme, shop, site, society, stall, stand, sting, stress, system, target, task force, telescope, tent, trap, tribunal, trust, union, venture, website, workshop take (a/an) A level, abuse, action, advice, age, aim, angle, antibiotic, approach, arm, article, aspirin, attitude, baby, bait, bath, baton, beating, bend, berth, bet, bit, bite, blame, blow, boat, booking, booty, booze, bow, brain, break, breath, breather, bribe, bronze, brunt, bump, burden, bus, cab, call, capsule, car, card , care , case, castle, casualty, catch, caution, census, chair, championship, chance, change, charge, citizenship, class, coat, coffee, coffin, collection, comfort, command, commitment, communion, complement, compliment, consequence, consolation, contraceptive, control, copy, corner, cottage, counsel, courage, course, cover, credit, credit card, criticism, crown, cruise, cue, custody, cut, cutting, decision, dedication, deduction, degree, delight, delivery, detour, dictation, dig, dip, diploma, direction, discipline, dive, diversion, doctorate, donation, dosage, dose, downturn, drink, drive, drug, effect, effort, elbow, elevator, encouragement, enjoyment, escalator, essentials, exam, examination, excursion, exercise, exit, fall, ferry, field, fight, film, final, fingerprint, flight, footpath, fork, form, fortress, freedom, fright, gamble, gasp, glance, glimpse, glory, gold, gospel, grip, guess, gulp, gut, hammering, hand, herb, highway, hint, hit, hold, holiday, honour, hormone, hostage, hour, illustration, imagination, impact, index, industrial action, infinitive, ingenuity, initiative, inspiration, instance, instruction, interest, interstate, inventory, job, joke, joy, jump, knock, lap, lead, leadership, leap, lease, leave, lesson, level, liberty, life, lifetime, lift, liking, line, look, loss, lover, master, measure, measurement, medication, medicine, message, milk, minute, miracle, mistress, moment, money, month, mouthful, name, nap, nationality, nerve, newspaper, note, notice, nourishment, oar, oath, offence, offensive, offer, office, opportunity, option, order, overdose, ownership, pace, pain, paper, part, pass, path, patience, pause, payment, pee, peek, peep, penalty, perseverance, persistence, perspective, persuasion, petrol, photocopy, photograph, pick, picnic, picture, pill, place, plane, Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 43 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS planning, plate, pleasure, pledge, plunge, point, point of view, poison, poll, position, possession, post, posture, power, practical, practice, precaution, precedence, priority, prisoner, prize, proceedings, profit, puff, pull, pulse, punch, punishment, quiz, quotation, quote, reading, recess, redundancy, refreshment, refuge, refugee, register, rejection, remark, remedy, reprisal, reserve, responsibility, rest, revenge, ride, right, risk, road, role, roll, root, rope, route, run, salute, sample, sanctuary, satisfaction, scan, score, seat, second, security, sedative, self-control, shape, share, sheet, shelter, shopping, short cut, shorthand, shot, shower, shrapnel, shuttle, siesta, silver, sip, size, skill, slant, sniff, snuff, solace, specimen, spoils, spotlight, stab, stage, stair, staircase, stake, stance, stand, statement, step, strain, street, strength, stress, stride, stroll, subject, submission, substance, subway, sugar, supplement, surname, survey, sweep, swig, swim, swing, swipe, tablet, tack, talent, taxi, tea, temperature, territory, test, throne, ticket, time, tip, tissue, title, toll, tone, total, trail, train, tram, transportation, trek, trip, trolley, trophy, trouble, tube, turn, turn-off, turning, twist, underground, upturn, vacation, veil, vengeance, verb, view, viewpoint, virginity, visit, vitamin, vote, vow, walk, wee, week, weight, wheel, whiff, while, willpower, X-ray, year, yoga Among other nouns, take is used with these nouns as the subject: boat, bowler, cab, cutting, ferry, graft, journey, robber, route, thief, verb, walk, win undergo (a / an) alteration, autopsy, bypass, change , check, conversion, crisis, development, evaluation, evolution, examination, expansion, experience, fate, graft, hypnosis, inspection, interrogation, medical, modification, mutation, operation, ordeal, overhaul, period, physical, physiotherapy, procedure, process, reconstruction, renovation, reorganization, repair, replacement, restoration, revision, revival, revolution, ritual, scan, scrutiny, shake-up, shift, stress, surgery, termination, test, therapy, training, transformation, transition, transplant, treatment, upheaval undertake (a / an) activity, assessment, campaign, conversion, duty, effort, endeavour, enquiry, enterprise, examination, expedition, fieldwork, initiative, investigation, journey, mission, modification, operation, programme, project, reconstruction, reform, research, responsibility, restoration, review, revision, study, survey, task, tour, venture, visit, voyage, work write (a / an) ballet, account, address, answer, application, article, assignment, autobiography, bill, biography, blog, book, brief, card, chapter, cheque (BrE) / check (AmE), code, column, comment, commentary, composition, concerto, confession, Congressman, Congresswoman, constitution, contract, copy, curriculum vitae / CV, dictionary, dissertation, document, draft, drama, editorial, email, encyclopedia, ending, entry, epitaph, equation, essay, feature, fiction, follow-up, gag, graffiti, guide, headline, history, initial, introduction, journal, law, lecture, letter, literature, lyrics, manifesto, manual, manuscript, melody, memo, memoir, memorandum, message, movie, music, name, narrative, note, novel, number, obituary, opera, outline, page, pamphlet, paper, paragraph, parody, passage, petition, piece, poem, poetry, portrait, post, postcard, posting, prescription, profile, program, proposal, prose, résumé, receipt, record, reference, reply, report, review, rule, scene, score, script, sentence, sequel, signature, sketch, slogan, software, song, specification, speech, story, summary, syllabus, symphony, tale, text, thesis, thriller, track, tragedy, tribute, tune, update, verse, virus, volume, will, word, work Among other nouns, the verb write is used with these nouns as the subject: author, composer, correspondent, journalist, musician, novelist, pen, poet, programmer, viewer, writer © Oxford University Press, 2009 Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 44 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS Do vs. Make: Collocations for ‘do’ and ‘make’ Collocations: do + noun do a check-up do a deal (with somebody) do a dictation do a doctorate (in) do a favour/favor (AmE) do a job do a kindness do a lesson do a presentation do a project do a rehearsal do a review do a seminar do a service do a sketch do a study do a test do a workshop do an assessment do an assignment do an essay do an exam / examination do an experiment do an injury do an X-ray do Art/French do business do damage do exercise do good do harm do justice do make-up do no good do no harm do one’s best do one’s duty do one’s hair do one’s hair do one’s homework do one’s job do one’s nail do one’s teeth do one’s utmost do one’s work do research do Rome (in a day) do some listening, speaking, reading , writing do something for living do sport do the accounts do the beds do the cleaning do the cooking do the dishes do the flowers do the gardening Collocations: make + noun make a (phone) call make a bargain make a case (for…) make a change make a choice make a claim make a comment on make a complaint make a contribution make a copy (of…) make a criticism make a cup of tea make a deal make a decision make a deduction make a demand make a discovery make a film make a fire make a fortune make a guess make a habit of something make a journey make a law make a loss make a mess make a mistake make a move (= to start to go) make a name for oneself make a noise make a plan make a profit make a promise make a proposal make a record make a reference make a remark make a report make a request make a start make a success of make a suggestion make a trip make a will make acquaintance with make adjustments make an accusation make an agreement make an apology make an application make an attempt (to) make an effort (to) make an error make an escape make an exception make an excuse make an impression Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 45 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS do the hoovering do the ironing do the kitchen do the knitting do the laundry do the sewing do the shopping do the sights do the sightseeing do the studying do the table do the vacuuming do the washing do the washing-up do the windows make an inquiry make an offer make arrangements make history make love make money make one’s way to a place (= to go there) make peace make progress make room (for) make rules make sense (of) make trouble make use of make war Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 46 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS  Passive Structures a) It + passive verb + that-clause or It is / has been / was / agreed / said that …: accept, acknowledge, affirm, agree, allege, announce, argue, arrange, ascertain, assert, assume, believe, calculate, claim, conclude, confirm, consider, contend, decide, declare, deduce, demonstrate, discover, emphasize, establish, estimate, expect, fear, feel, find, hope, imagine, infer, intend, know, maintain, mention, note, observe, plan, presume, propose, prove, reason, recommend, report, reveal, say, settle, show, stress, suggest, suppose, think, underline / underscore, understand: It is / has been said that there is plenty of oil off our coast. ◊ It is feared that many lives have been lost in the train crash. ◊ It is reported that the damage is extensive. ◊ It has been acknowledged that underfunding contributed to the problem. ◊ It was decided that the meeting should be cancelled. ◊ It is thought (that) there are too many obstacles to peace. ◊ It can be seen that the vast majority of students is male. ◊ It should be / must be noted that teachers employ explicit teaching in their lessons. ◊ It should be / must be emphasized that some learners learn implicitly some grammatical rules. ◊ It is generally / widely agreed that children imitate their parents’ behaviour. ◊ It is confirmed that you took my book. ◊ It has been confirmed that life is short and hard. ◊ It is settled that / It has been settled that we leave on the nine o’clock plane.◊ It should be ascertained that the plans comply with the law. ◊ It is generally accepted that people are motivated by success. ◊ It is concluded /deduced / inferred / reasoned / understood that she has passed the exams. ◊ It can be concluded / deduced / inferred that he is going to marry her. ◊ It was ascertained / established that discourse connectors are of utmost importance in writing. ◊ It has since been established that the horse was drugged. ◊ It was found / discovered that students commit so many mist akes in writing their essays. ◊ It is underlined that / It should be underlined that these are only preliminary findings. ◊ It must be stressed that this disease is very rare. ◊ It has been observed that men tend to marry later than women. ◊ It is / has been often suggested that reading is food for thought. ◊ It is / has been often argued that writing is by far the most difficult language skill for EFL students. NOTE: It + passive verb + that-clause can be an alternative to subject + passive verb + to-infinitive when we want the subject to be the topic of the sentence. Most of the verbs in the list above can also be used in this pattern except for announce, decide, mention, propose, recommend, suggest, tell (=say). It is reported that the damage is extensive or The damage is reported to be extensive. It has been acknowledged that underfunding contributed to the problem or Underfunding has been acknowledged to have contributed to the problem. Nonetheless, there are other verbs that follow the structure It + passive verb + to-infinitive: agree, decide, hope, intend, plan, propose: It was decided to cancel the meeting. ◊ It has been proposed to study science more than arts. b) It + passive verb + wh-clause: ascertain, discover, establish, explain, find, know, reveal, show, understand: It has now been revealed who was responsible for the accident. The decision to build the bridge was taken before it was established whether it was actually needed. ◊ It must be ascertained whether the land is still owned by the government or not. c) There + passive verb + to-infinitive + object / There + passive + to be + complement: acknowledge, allege, believe, consider, fear, feel, know, presume, report, say, suppose, think, understand: There is said to be plenty of oil off our coast. There are known to be thousands of different species of beetles. There is presumed to have been lots of problems with pronunciation. There are / was alleged to be lots of beggars and outcasts in the streets. It is thought (that) there are too many obstacles to peace = There are thought to be too many obstacles to peace. In 1981 it was believed (that) there were only two experts on the disease in the country = In 1981 there were believed to be only two experts on the disease in the country. d) Subject + passive verb + to-infinitive or I / you / he / she / we / they + am / is / are / was / were considered to + infinitive: acknowledge, allege, believe, consider, declare, know, recognize, report, say, suppose, think, understand: Mandy is said to be some kind of secret agent. ◊ He is supposed to be at work at the moment. ◊ Jane is said to know all there is to know about chimpanzees. ◊ Miguel was considered to be a genius in his class. ◊ It is believed to be very effective and efficient. Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 47 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS e) Subject + passive verb + that-clause: encourage, inform, persuade, reassure, remind, tell, warn: We have been informed that we have to leave. f)  Subject + passive verb + to-infinitive + complement/object | It + passive verb + to-infinitive + complement/object: be believed to, be claimed to, be considered to, be felt to, be found to, be held to, be reckoned to, be said to, be seen to, be shown to, be thought to: They are claimed to have good language proficiency ◊ It is often thought to be technically demanding. NOTE: Some verbs in this pattern can also be found in the above structure (e.g. believe, consider, say). This structure is mainly used for tentative language (‘hedging’), that is, to avoid being too categorical or extremely assertive. Other verbs are possible, but the commonest verb in this type of structure is ‘to be’: He is held / reckoned to be a competent teacher. ◊ It has been found to be a straightforward task. It-Patterns a) It is / would be + adjective + ‘to’-infinitive: absurd, adequate, advisable, alarming, amazing, astonishing, astounding, awful, bad, better, best, brave, careless, certain, cheap, clever, comforting, compulsory, convenient, crazy, critical, crucial, cruel, dangerous, daunting, depressing, difficult, dishonest, dreadful, dumb, easy, enjoyable, enough, essential, expensive, fair, fascinating, feasible, foolish, free, friendly, frightening, frustrating, funny, good, gratifying, great, hard (= difficult), heartbreaking, heart-rending, helpful, honest, hopeless, horrible, horrific, horrifying, idiotic, imperative, impolite, important, impossible, impracticable, impractical, inadequate, inconvenient, incredible, insane, interesting, irresponsible, just, kind, logical, lovely, lucky, mad, mandatory, mind-boggling, natural, necessary, nice, obligatory, odd, painless, plain sailing, pleasant, pleasing, pointless, polite, possible, practicable, premature, rash, realistic, reasonable, reassuring, reckless, rewarding, right, rude, sad, scary, safe, satisfying, sensible, silly, simple, straightforward, strange, stupid, surprising, tactless, terrible, terrifying, thoughtless, true, unbelievable, unfeasible, unkind, unlucky, unnatural, unnecessary, unprofitable, unrealistic, unreasonable, untrue, unwise, upsetting, useful, useless, vital, wise, worthwhile, wrong: It’s advisable to book in advance. ◊ It’s kind (of him) to help me. ◊ It is important to consider the way students learn languages. ◊ It would be irresponsible to carry on if there really was a problem. ◊ It would be unwise to comment on the situation without knowing all the facts. ◊ It would be rash to assume that everyone will agree with you on this. ◊ It would be unprofitable to pursue this argument any further. ◊ It would be unrealistic to expect her to finish this work overnight. ◊ It seems unreasonable to expect one person to do both jobs. ◊ It may be feasible to clone human beings, but is it ethical? ◊ It is reasonable to assume that he knew beforehand that this would happen. ◊ It was totally impractical to think that we could finish the job in two months. ◊ It is very convenient to pay by credit card. ◊ It's comforting to know that she'll be there. ◊ It's been reassuring (to know) that we've got all the items we need. NOTE: The pattern It is/would be rash to… is often used with verbs about expressing opinions or drawing conclusions, such as assume, expect, state, conclude, and say b) It is / was / would be + adjective + that-clause: absurd*°, advisable*#, alarming*°, amazing, apparent, astonishing, astounding, awful°, (too) bad*°, baffling, better #, best#, bewildering, certain, clear*, conceivable, confusing, critical, crucial, cruel*°, disgusting, enough*°, essential*#, evident, extraordinary, fair*°, fascinating, feasible, fortunate°, funny°, good*, great, hard (= unfair)*°, helpful, horrible*°, imperative, impossible*, important#, incomprehensible, inconceivable, inexplicable, interesting, just*#, likely, logical, lovely*, lucky, natural°, necessary*#, nice*, notable, obvious, odd°, pathetic, pleasant*°, possible*, puzzling, regrettable, right*#, sad°, self-evident, shocking, silly*°, significant, strange, surprising, tragic, true, unbelievable, understandable, unfortunate, unlikely, unlucky, unnatural°, unnecessary* #, unthinkable, untrue, vital*#, wrong*°: It’s likely (that) he’ll arrive tomorrow. ◊ It is clear that the study centres upon the explicit teaching of discourse connectors.◊ It is certain that the parcel arrived safely. ◊ It is essential that the parcel (should) arrive safely. ◊ It is important that we (should) be there on time. ◊ It's quite feasible (that) we'll get the money. ◊ It was unthinkable that she could be dead. Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 48 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS NOTE: Those adjectives marked with an asterisk (*) the word ‘that’ cannot usually be omitted in that-clause: It’s cruel that he should be punished. Those adjectives marked with the symbol of number (#) are used as follows: that-clause+ should + verb; thatclause+ subjunctive (personal pronoun + verb); that-clause+ simple present/simple past: It’s advisable that he should phone. It’s advisable that he keep in touch. Or It’s advisable that he keeps in touch. Those adjectives marked with a circle (°) are used as follows: that-clause+ should + verb (but with no subjunctive): It’s odd (that) you should say that. c) It is + adjective + -ing form: absurd, awful, bad, better, best, brave, cheap, clever, cruel, dangerous, difficult, easy, embarrassing, enjoyable, expensive, foolish, fortunate, friendly, funny, good, great, hard (= difficult, unfair), helpful, hopeless, horrible, kind, lovely, lucky, nice, no good, odd, pleasant, pointless, quick, rude, sad, safe, silly, slow, strange, stupid, unkind, unlucky, unwise, useful, useless, wise, worth, worthwhile, wrong: It’s no good lounging around. ◊ It’s worth remembering that you’re my bosom friend. d) It is / was / would be + adjective + of + sb (me, you, him, her, us, them) + to… or It isn’t / wasn’t / wouldn’t be + adjective + of + sb + to …: It is / was / would be or It isn’t / wasn’t / wouldn’t be annoying, brave / careless / clever / considerate / crazy / cruel / decent / devious / dishonest / dishonourable / dumb / extravagant / foolish / friendly / generous / good / honest / hypocritical / idiotic / impolite / inconsiderate / indiscreet / insane / intelligent / kind / mad / mean / nasty / neighbourly / nice / polite / presumptuous / rash / reasonable / rude / sensible / short-sighted / silly / smart / stupid / sweet / tactless / thoughtful / thoughtless / uncharacteristic / unfriendly / unkind / unprofessional / unreasonable / wrong of me / you / her / him / us / them + ‘to’ infinitive. Examples: I think it was a bit rash of them to get married when they'd only known each other for a few weeks. ◊ I turned the job down, which was stupid of me. ◊ It was rude of him to leave so suddenly. ◊ It was very neighbourly of you to do her shopping for her. ◊ It would be hypocritical of me to have a church wedding when I don’t believe in God. ◊ It would be indiscreet of me to say any more. ◊ It would be presumptuous of me to comment on the matter. ◊ It would have been dishonourable of her not to keep her promise. ◊ That was clever of you! ◊ That was extravagant of you to buy strawberries out of season. ◊ It is dishonest of him to cheat you like that. ◊ It's very short-sighted of the government not to invest in technological research. ◊ It’s uncharacteristic of her to be late. e) It is/was/will be/would be + adjective + (for + me/you/him/her/us/them, somebody, etc.) + ‘to’infinitive | (be) + adjective + (for …) ‘to’-infinitive: abnormal, common, compulsory, difficult, easy, empowering, hard, helpful, important, impossible, impracticable, inappropriate, inconceivable, inconvenient, mandatory, natural, necessary, nice, normal, obligatory, pleasant, practical, uncommon, unimportant, unthinkable, unusual: It is difficult to park these big cars. ◊ These big cars are difficult to park. ◊ It is easy for a thief to break into this house. ◊ This house is easy for a thief to break into. ◊ It is not uncommon for him to help his friends and neighbours. ◊ It would be unthinkable for me to stay anywhere but with my family. ◊ It wouldn’t be practical for us to go all that way just for the weekend. ◊ It would be impracticable for each member to be consulted on every occasion. ◊ It would be inconceivable for her to change her mind. ◊ It would be inappropriate for me to comment on this issue. ◊ It will be very inconvenient for me to have no car. ◊ It would be helpful for me to see the damage for myself. ◊ It is very empowering for students to develop their writing proficiency Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 49 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS  There-structures We often use the subject there with the verb be. Some other verbs are possible, but only in a formal or literary style. Verbs in this pattern are: arise, arrive, come, emerge, enter, exist, follow, lie, live, occur, remain, result, sit, stand, take place. On top of the hill there stands an ancient church tower. There now follows a party political broadcast. The next day there occurred a strange incident. NOTE: We can also use appear, be bound, be supposed, chance, happen, seem, turn out, prove, suppose, tend, used with to be. We can sometimes use a noun phrase after seem, especially one with little or no. There appears to be a misunderstanding of this law in this case. There appears to have been an accident. There doesn’t seem to be enough memory in the computer. There is bound to be a rise in the profit this year. There is supposed to be a concert tonight. There proved to be no truth in the rumour. There seemed (to be) little difference between the two alternatives. There seems (to be) no reason for alarm. There seems to be a major disagreement between the two presidents. There supposed to be so many students in the classrooms. There tends to be a disagreement with neighbours. There used to be lots of people in this village, but now there are very few people in here. There + Passive Verb + To be/To have been We use verbs like allege, assume, believe, claim, consider, expect, feel, say, suggest, suppose, think, and understand. In 1987 there were believed to be peace and security all over the world. (= In 1987 it was believed (that) there were peace and security all over the world.) There is thought to be a dramatic drop in schoolchildren. (= It is thought (that) there is a dramatic drop in schoolchildren.) There is said to be a major factor affecting speaking anxiety over EFL learners.  … that-structures a) Verbs + the fact (that): accept the fact that; account for the fact that; advertise the fact (that); allow for the fact that; alter the fact that; appreciate the fact that; be conscious of the fact that; be resigned to the fact that; be responsible for the fact that; bemoan the fact that; betray the fact that; broadcast the fact that; come to terms with the fact that; conceal the fact that; consider the fact that; disguise the fact that; draw attention to the fact that; emphasize the fact that; explain by the fact that; face the fact that; face up to the fact that; hide the fact; highlight the fact that; ignore the fact; know for the fact that; lament the fact that; lie in the fact that; lose sight of the fact that; make an issue of the fact that; not to mention the fact that; obscure the fact (that); overlook the fact that; pay attention to the fact that; point out the fact that; point to the fact that; point up the fact that; refer to the fact that; reflect the fact that; resent the fact that; stem from the fact that; stress the fact that; take comfort from the fact that, take into account / consideration the fact that; underline the fact that; underscore the fact that; etc.: I’d like to highlight the fact that studying is crucial for our lives. ◊ You must be responsible for the fact that you are the firstborn son. Note also the following pattern: be + past participle + by + the fact that: be complicated by the fact that, be compounded by the fact that, be confirmed by the fact that, be exacerbated by the fact that, be explained by the fact that, be influenced by the fact that, be supported by the fact that, be surprised by the fact that: The problem was compounded by the fact that I had no idea what I was looking for. Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 50 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS b) … (the fact) that: apart from the fact that …; aside from the fact that …; assuming (that)…; as well as that; because of the fact that …; but for the fact that (= if it were not for the fact that …); by the time (that)…; considering that …; considering the fact that …; despite the fact that …; due to the fact that …; failing that …; for fear that …; given that …; given the fact that …; in order that …; in that …; in the belief that …; in the event that …; in the (fond) hope that …; in the knowledge that …; in (the) light of the fact that …; in spite of the fact that …; in view of the fact that …; it’s a sad fact that …; notwithstanding the fact that …; now that …; on account of the fact that …; on (the) condition that …; (based) on the assumption that …; on the basis that …; on the grounds that …; on the understanding that …; owing to the fact that …; provided/providing that …; regardless of the fact that …; seeing that …; so that …; supposing (that); the chances are ()…; the fact (of the matter) is (that)…; the fact remains that …; the mere fact that …; the plain fact is that …; there's no escaping the fact (that)…; to the effect that …; to the extent that …; under the condition that …; under the illusion that …; (be / labour) under the delusion / illusion / impression / misapprehension that (= to wrongly believe that something is true) …; with the result that …; with that, etc. The theories are based on the assumption that discourse connectors can provide writing with cohesion and coherence. ◊ I will do my PhD regardless of the fact that it is an intellectually challenging task. ◊ The students are still labouring under the impression that they have written a cohesive and coherent essay.  Noun + that Structures noun + that-clause: accusation, acknowledgement, advantage, advice, agreement, aim, allegation, announcement, answer, anticipation, argument, assertion, (the)assumption, awareness, (the)basis, belief, chance, charge, claim, (the) comfort, comment, (the) concept, (the) conclusion, confidence, (the) conjecture, (the) consolation, contention, consciousness, conviction, danger, decision, deduction, demand, demonstration, effect, evidence, (the) excuse, expectation, explanation, fact, feeling, finding, foreboding, forecast, (the) grounds, guarantee, guess, hint, hope, hunch, (the) hypothesis, (the) idea 15, implication, impression, indication, indicator, inference, inkling, intent, intention, intuition, judgement, (the) justification, (the) knowledge, (the) law, (the) likelihood, motion, news, notice, (the) notion, observation, (the) odds, opinion, optimism, perception, plan, point, point of view, possibility, prediction, (the) premise, premonition, (the) presumption, (the) presupposition, (the) pretext, (the) principle, (the) probability, prophecy, projection, promise, proof, proposal, proposition, (the) prospect, purpose, (the) realization, (the) reason, (the) reassurance, recommendation, reply, request, (the) rule, ruling, sensation, sense, sign, signal, speculation, statement, suggestion, symptom, (the) tenet, testimony, (the) theorem, (the) theory, (the) thought, threat, verdict, view, warning, wish + that-clause: It is my firm belief that love and respect help couples. ◊ The claim is often made that teaching is not a straightforward task. ◊ The jury came to the conclusion that the candidate is an excellent student. ◊ There is not a scrap/shred of evidence that the meeting is going to take place. ◊ I had no evidence that Jed was the killer. ◊ I had a feeling that no one thought I was good enough. ◊ I enjoy the thought that something good is going to happen ◊ There is a growing/mounting body of evidence that the meeting is going to take place. ◊ There seems to be a general awareness that this is not the solution. ◊ He had a strange foreboding (that) something would go wrong. ◊ From what you say, there is a presupposition that you have a girlfriend. ◊ I had a hunch that you’d be here. ◊ I didn’t have the slightest inkling that she was unhappy. ◊ It was not my intention that she should suffer.◊ I can’t explain how I knew – I just had an intuition that you’d been involved in an accident. NOTE: Most of these nouns are often used with the verbs ‘have’ or ‘there to be’ such as: To have the feeling / impression / sensation / sense that … | To have/hold a belief / a conviction / an opinion / a point of view / a view / (that) … BUT: To raise awareness / consciousness of …| To formulate a hypothesis / theory / thesis | To support a hypothesis / premise / proposition / theory / thesis | To test a hypothesis / premise / proposition / theory | To prove a hypothesis / proposition / theory / thesis | To be based on a hypothesis / premise / proposition / theory / thesis | a hypothesis / premise / proposition / theory / thesis is based on sth 15 Also: a feeling / a foreboding / a hunch / an idea / an inkling / an instinct / an intuition / a premonition / a suspicion that … Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 51 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS  Subjunctive Structures: SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD a) Future reference: affirmative and negative after (that). That … should can be used after such verbs as advise, ask, beg, command, demand, direct, insist, instruct, intend, order, persuade, prefer, propose, recommend, request, require, stipulate, suggest, telex, tell, urge, warn; alternatively, simple present or subjunctive can be used in British English or the subjunctive in American English. ‘That’ is generally dropped in informal style.    I suggest (that) he should / shouldn’t go to hospital I suggest (that) he go / not go to hospital I suggest (that) he goes / doesn’t go to hospital (should) (subjunctive) (simple present) b) Past reference: affirmative and negative after (that). In the past reported suggestions, the (that) … should construct and the subjunctive can be replaced by a past tense.    c) I suggested (that) he should / shouldn’t drive fast I suggested (that) he drive / not drive fast I suggested (that) he drove / didn’t drive fast (should) (subjunctive) (simple present) ‘That … should’ after some adjectives: Adjectives referring to desirability or urgency, such as advisable, appalling, appropriate, better / best, conceivable, crucial, essential, imperative, important, inappropriate, inconceivable, just, obligatory, necessary, right, unnecessary, urgent, vital can be used in the same way. The reference may also be to the past.     It is vital (that) we should / shouldn’t be present (should) It is vital (that) we be / not be present (subjunctive) It is vital (that) we are / aren’t present (simple present) It was important (that) she should apply/apply/applied for the job. d) ‘That … should’ after some adjectives ending in -ed and others. We can also use ‘that … should’ or simple present but not subjunctive when we talk about our own reaction to something we are reporting, particularly after be + adjective (e.g. alarmed, amazed, amused, annoyed, anxious, ashamed, astonished, astounded, careful, concerned, determined, disappointed, eager, keen, shocked, sorry, surprised, upset). If we wish to be more emphatic, we may use the simple present. Shouldn’t is possible but often avoided (because of its ambiguity) in such cases and the negative present or past are preferred. The simple past or should have + past participle can also be used.       I am concerned that she should think I stole the money. I am concerned that she thinks I stole the money. (not … that she think I stole the money.) I am surprised that he doesn’t feel any remorse. I am surprised that he didn’t feel any remorse. I was surprised that he made the same mistake. I was surprised that he should have made the same mistake Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 52 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS ⓫ Cleft Sentences & Others: FOCUS STRUCTURES Focus structures have often been referred to as cleft sentences, emphasising sentences, emphatic sentences, focusing sentences. As the name suggests, they place emphasis on the end of the sentences. As you may well be aware, some patterns are mostly used in spoken language. Below are some of the commonest patterns or structures of cleft sentences. 1. It + be + noun group/phrase + relative clauses It is an academic writing lesson that he wants. ◊ It was David who taught me academic writing skills. 2. It + be + wh-words It is how she does it that I object to. 3. The + noun + be + to-infinitive/-ing form | The + noun + be + that-clause | the + noun + whclause answer, conclusion, fact, point, problem , question, rule, solution, thing, trouble, truth The solution / the answer / the fact is studying academic writing. 4. Negative adverbials/adjuncts + verb + subject + object / complement (formal context) at no time, barely, hardly…when, by no means, hardly ever, in no circumstances, in no way, least of all, little, neither…nor, never, never again, never before, nor, not a…, not only…but, not until/till, nowhere, only after, only at that moment, only by, only if, only in some respects, only later, only on rare occasions, only then, only when, only with, on no account, on no condition, on no occasion, no sooner…than, rarely, scarcely…when, scarcely ever, seldom, under no circumstances. Informally, they are used without any inversion of the subject, that is, within a sentence. On no account must they be forced to participate in the study. 5. ‘Wh-’ structures / clauses + be + noun phrase What you need is a job. ◊ How they managed I do not know. (BUT the commonest way is ‘What-clauses’) 6. What-clauses a) What + subject + do + be + to-infinitive clause What they did is (to) work on the questionnaires b) What + subject + verb + be + noun phrase What we gave them was some pieces of advice on academic writing. What I would like you to work on is exercise 2 on page 37. c) What + verb + personal pronoun + (most) be + noun phrase | What + verb + personal pronoun + (most) be + the way that/the fact that … amaze, astonish, astound, stagger, startle, stun, surprise; annoy, bug, get on my nerve, irritate, upset the way that/the fact that … What upset me most was his rudeness OR His rudeness was what upset me most. 7. The + noun + wh-word/that + main clause The person who/whom/that… (= Someone/somebody who/that …) The place where/that … The reason why/that … The time/day when/that … 8. All (that) + subject + verb + be + noun phrase All you need is love and respect 9. It was not until … / It was only when … It was only when I understood what academic writing really entails. 10. This / That + be + wh-words + emphasizing/focusing sentence This is how academic writing functions. Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 53 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS Other Examples of Cleft Sentences & Other Sentences Some of the sentences below are mostly used in informal language, but sometimes we can find them in academic writing. The most important aspect that we should take into account is the context (how, where, with whom, why, when, etc. to use them). A. IT-CLEFT SENTENCES (It-clauses) It annoys me / irritates me / gets on my nerves / bugs me that / when … It breaks my heart to see / think / know … It comforts / consoles / reassures me to know (that) … It frightens / scares / alarms / terrifies me to think, see, etc. It frightens / scares / alarms / terrifies me that … It hurt / upset / distressed / saddened / pained me that … (simple past) It hurt / upset / distressed / saddened / pained me to see / think / know … (simple past) It hurts / upsets / distresses / saddens / pains me that … It hurts / upsets / distresses / saddens / pains me to see / think / know … It impresses / moves / touches me to see / hear sth It impresses / impressed me that … It infuriated / enraged / riled / incensed him that … It pleased / gratified me to find / hear / know / see / think … It pleased / satisfied / gratified me that … It puzzles / baffles / beats me how / why… It puzzles / baffles me that … It seems / appears / strikes me that … / It would seem / appear that … It shocks / appalls / horrifies / disgusts / sickens me that … It shocks / appalls / horrifies / disgusts / scandalizes / sickens / dismays me to think / see / hear / find / learn … It surprises / startles / amazes / stuns / astonishes / astounds me to know / find / learn / see / hear … It worries / bothers / concerns / troubles / disturbs me that … B. WHAT-CLEFT SENTENCES What annoys me / frustrates me / irritates me / gets on my nerves / bugs me is the way that … What annoys me / frustrates me / irritates me / gets on my nerves / bugs me is the fact that … What pisses us off / drives us mad / drives us crazy is … What puzzles / baffles / mystifies / beats me is … What really angers / infuriates / enrages / riles / incenses me is … What surprises / startles / amazes / stuns / astonishes / astounds / staggers me (most) is … What surprises / startles / amazes / stuns / astonishes / astounds / staggers me (most) is the way that … What surprises / startles / amazes / stuns / astonishes / astounds / staggers me (most) is the fact that … What worries / bothers / concerns / troubles / disturbs me is … BIBLIOGRAPHY Academic Writing Guide: Part 1 – Academic Writing. Sydney, Australia: UTS (University of Technology Sydney) Library. Alexander, L. G. (1988). Longman English Grammar. Harlow, Essex: Pearson Education Limited. Antle, J. B. (2014). Frequent adjective + noun collocations for intermediate English language learners. In Sonda, N., & Krause, A. (Eds.). JALT 2013 Conference Proceedings. Tokyo: JALT. (pp. 297– 307) Coxhead, A. (2000). A new academic word list. TESOL Quarterly, 34, 213–238. Durrant, P. (2009). Investigating the viability of a collocation list for students of English for academic purposes. English for Specific Purposes, 28, 157–169. Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 54 of 55 ACADEMIC WRITING PHRASEOLOGY: HONING YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS Folse, K. S. (2016). Keys to teaching grammar to English language learners: A practical handbook (2nd edition). USA, Michigan: University of Michigan Press. Hewings, M. (2005). Advanced Grammar in Use (2nd edition). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Huddleston, R., & Pullum, G. K. (2002). The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Jordan, R. R. (1997). English for Academic Purposes: A Guide and Resource Book for Teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Jordan, R. R. (1999). Academic Writing Course: Study Skills in English. Harlow, Essex: Pearson Education Limited. Lea, D. (Ed.). (2008). Oxford Learner’s Thesaurus: A Dictionary of Synonyms. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Mateus, T. A. (2016). Teaching Discourse Connectors to Help 2nd Year Students Develop Writing Proficiency at Instituto Superior Politécnico da Huíla. Lubango, Angola: ISCED-Huíla. (Licenciatura Paper). Mclntosh, C. (Ed.). (2009). Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Mclntosh, C. (Ed.). (2013). Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (4th edition). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Quirk, R., Greenbaum, S., Leech, G., & Svartvik, J. (1985). A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. London: Longman. Shin, D., & Nation, I. S. P. (2008). Beyond single words: The most frequent collocations in spoken English. ELT Journal, 62, 339–348. Turnbull, J. (Ed.). (2010). Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (8th edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Ying, Y., & O’Neill, M. (2009). Collocation learning through an “AWARE” approach: Learner perspectives and learning process. In Barfield, A., & Gyllstad, H. (Eds.). Researching collocations in another language (pp. 181-193). New York: Palgrave Macmillan. The Aim of this Booklet This booklet was written with the prime purpose of helping my classmates from ISCED-Huíla, fellow teachers, and students to be well acquainted with some tips on academic writing, or to develop some writing proficiency. In this regard, it has been thought to be a humble contribution to all people who need a helping hand on this relevant issue when it comes to academically writing their essays, reports, dissertations, or theses. All the best!!! Do your hardest!!! Email: [email protected] or [email protected] Contact number: +224 934 96 49 57 or + 224 939 511 299 NOTA: Caros leitores, caso encontrem algumas dúvidas quanto às questões ou aos pontos acima referidos, por favor, podem procurar por mim ou mandar uma mensagem por qualquer contacto acima referido para algum esclarecimento. Se for uma dúvida que requer uma explicação exaustiva, informem-me atempadamente; isto é, 48 horas antes, marcando assim a data e o local para a devida elucidação. MUITO OBRIGADO!!! Designed by Tomás A. Mateus. Lubango, Huíla, Angola: UCC: Universidade Cuito Cuanavale, 2019 Page 55 of 55