Reporting Verbs in Academic Writing

Reporting verbs are used when citing other writers' work or ideas. Examples of reporting verbs are 'state', 'argue', 'discuss' and 'report'. They have differences in meaning, strength and grammar usage. The video also shows examples in an authentic academic text.

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00:00 Intro and definition
01:37 Meaning of reporting verbs
03:32 Strength of reporting verbs
05:49 Grammar of reporting verbs
09:10 According to + end of sentence citations
10:17 Reporting verbs in an authentic text
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Reporting verbs, also called referring verbs, are commonly used in academic writing to cite (or 'refer to') other people's writing. The most common reporting verb is 'state', which is neutral in meaning. The verbs 'comment', 'note' and 'remark' have the same general meaning as 'state' but are weaker in meaning, while 'assert', which also has the same general meaning, is much stronger. There are also verbs which mean 'agree' (e.g. 'concede' - weak, 'echo' - neutral, 'concur' - strong), verbs which mean 'disagree' (e.g. 'question' - weak, 'doubt' - neutral, 'disapprove' - strong), others to show accusation (e.g. 'accuse', 'blame' – both strong), verbs which mean 'believe', 'discuss', 'emphasise', 'examine', and so on.

Reporting verbs can be used in either the present or past tense. Many are followed by a 'that' clause, though some have special usage, e.g. 'accuse sb of sth', 'compare sth to sth', 'disapprove of sth', and 'define sth as sth'.

The video also shows how the phrase 'According to' is used, how to use end-of-sentence citations, and takes a text from the Journal of English for Academic Purposes to show how reporting verbs are used in authentic academic text.

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Journal of English for Academic Purposes text is available here:

Word cloud for meaning of reporting verb uses the generator on the Jason Davies website:

[elsinakaruway]

Very helpful and informative for writing a good academic writing. Thank you so much.

[rosamariajirano]

Thank you so much for your video. It really helps me with my homework. 🎉❤

[Edward]

I love your videos, they are very informative.

[sanjidarahim]

Thank you very much, my students love your videos.

[cherolbharosa]

Very helpful and easy to understand. Thank you

[jakkritjantakoon]

Thank for sharing. It's very helpful.

[petercampbell]

Great video, also consider looking at reporting verbs in corpora to see how to use them grammatically...