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Phrasal verbs in academic writing
Phrasal verbs in English fall into three classes: a main verb and an adverb particle (‘bring in’), a verb and a preposition which cannot be separated from each other (‘cope…
Let A. Then B.
A common formulation in mathematics is “Let A. Then B“, especially when A consists of more than one hypothesis. E.g. “Let a and b be real numbers, and suppose x2+ax+b…
Tense usage when referring to previous research
The beginning of a literature review generally starts with a sentence summarizing previous research. Use of an incorrect verb tense is a very common mistake. Which is the correct verb…
i.e., e.g., viz., etc.
That is, for example, namely, and so forth. When should we write these in full as English words (i.e. not in the abbreviated Latin)? When should they be followed by…
Academic style: formal language
Academic writing uses formal language rather than informal or colloquial language (spoken or informal language). Informal language is much more widely used, thus part of developing an academic writing style…
Academic style: nominalisation
In the post Academic style: being concise and precise I mentioned nominalisation. Nominalisation means changing verbs to nouns. It is often more concise, while tending to lead to more complex…
matter, issue, problem
Translating the Czech word problematika can be problematic! The literal translation, i.e. problematic, is fairly clear. However problematika can also be translated as or dilemma. These words…
Specifying the present time
I take it that the Golden Drugget is not outspread nowanights across the high dark coast road. — Max Beerbohm, The Golden Drugget, 1918 (in And Even Now, 1921) Nowadays…
Gender neutrality in brief 2
As mentioned in the post Gender neutrality in brief 1, gender neutral language is a convention in academic English. It is very easy to forget to use gender-neutral language. Awareness…
Gender neutrality in brief 1
Gender neutrality is now a convention in Anglo-Saxon academic writing. While not everyone agrees with the concept behind this, its usage is highly recommended as not using gender neutrality can…