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Phrases

The PhraseBook is designed to be used in a wide range of subjects and is suitable for all types of university papers and research publications and presentations. Phrases are divided into around 30 main sections that follow the structure of university and research writing, such as Introducing a Study, Defining the Scope of a Study, Arguing For and Against, Reviewing other Work, Summarizing and Conclusions. Many sections are further divided, for example the Relationship to Previous Work, the Relationship to Current Work, Contrasting Work and the Limitations of Current Knowledge.

The PhraseBook is available in both paperback and digital versions. The digital versions allow you to search the PhraseBook for a specific word or phrase.

 

Preface and acknowledgements

Thanks

Support, funding and approval

Personal thanks

About the author or authors

Education and position

Research and publications

Contributions and awards

Contributors

Introducing a study, chapter or section

Structure

Related work

The aim of your study and outlining the topic

Current understanding

Importance of the study

Defining the scope of your study

What is excluded from study

Further references

Your method or approach

Type of study

Method

Reasoning

Controls

Definitions, notation and terminology

Rules and laws

Use and reference

Following others’ definitions

Exceptions

Presenting data

Figures, tables and graphs

Describing figures and graphs

Data sources and collection

Giving examples

What the examples show

Interviews

The relationship to other work

Previous work

Current work

Contrasting work

The limitations of current knowledge

Referring to other work

Citing work to support a view

Further references

Reviewing other work

What you agree with

What you disagree with

Their method

Their results or conclusions

Your view

Arguing your case and putting forward ideas

Arguing against

Analysis and discussion

Characteristics

Discussion

Explanation

Qualifying

Quantifying

Measurement

Amount

Order

Change

Time

Duration

Frequency

Present

Previous and past

Subsequent and future

Hypotheses and probability

Possibility

Suggestion and speculation

Probability and prediction

Assumption and implication

Rhetorical questions and addressing your audience

Compare and contrast

Equal or equivalent

Same or similar

Relation

Agreement and correspondence

Contrast

Difference

Tying a text together

Referring forwards

Referring back

Presenting results

Negative results

Interpreting findings

Agreement

Contradictory, unexpected or inconclusive findings

Concluding a study, chapter or section

Contribution

Limitations

Implications and applications

Recommendations

Summary and abstract

Book jackets

 

Writing Help

The ability to write well at university and research level is a valuable skill: good writing lends credibility to a text, just as poor writing can detract from it. The PhraseBook therefore includes Writing Help sections with advice on grammar, style and punctuation in university and research writing. These sections help you avoid many common errors in English before submitting your text, for instance for examination or publication.

 

Style

Varieties of English

Using a style sheet

Avoiding colloquial language

Avoiding contracted forms

Avoiding clichés

Avoiding tautology

Referring to yourself

Referring to the reader

Referring generally

he and she

Other types of bias

Spelling

British and US spellings

z and s spellings

Punctuation

Full stop or period

Comma

Semicolon

Colon

Question mark

Exclamation mark or point

Hyphen

Hyphenation of prefixes

The hyphen in fixed compounds

Using the hyphen in temporary compounds before a noun

Dash

The possessive with ’s

Quotation marks

Punctuation at the end of quotations

Punctuating titles, legends and bullets

Parenthesis and ellipsis

References

Abbreviations

Capitalization

Grammar

Noncount nouns

Singular words ending in -s

Irregular plurals

Confusing words: singular and plural

Confusing words: pronouns

Irregular verbs

Vocabulary

Differences in vocabulary in English varieties

Ambiguous words

Confusing words

Confusing prefixes

Alternatives to get

Numbers

Time

 

Glossary and Reference

A great deal of English academic vocabulary derives from Latin and Greek. Much has also been borrowed from or via French, as well as from other languages such as German, Italian and Arabic in subjects such as Psychology, Music, Science and Mathematics. In addition, many of the abbreviations common in university and research writing (such as e.g., i.e. and etc.) and many everyday academic terms (such as campus, school and curriculum) derive from Latin or Greek.

Given the large number of foreign elements in English university and research vocabulary, it can be difficult to guess the meaning of an unfamiliar word, and Greek and Latin elements – such as tele-vision – are still used to coin new scientific terms today. Knowledge of some Greek and Latin helps to decipher the meaning of many terms, not least for speakers from parts of the world with other classical languages.

 

University and research terminology

Greek, Latin and other elements

SI prefixes

SI and British-American units

 

Thesaurus

A thesaurus helps you build a richer vocabulary and avoid using the same expressions over and again. However, a conventional thesaurus has the drawback that it includes synonyms that are unsuitable for university and research writing. Similarly, thesauruses included with computer word processors are often inadequate: for example, for insight the most common word processor suggests just around the corner.

The PhraseBook thesaurus, on the other hand, is specifically compiled for university and research writing, and contains both synonyms (words with a similar meaning) and antonyms (words with the opposite meaning). It has been designed to make it easy to find related words.

Key words have umbrella headings.

 

according to

advantage

agree with

analyse or analyze

appear

argue and argument

author

bad

basis

because

beginning a sentence

better

certain

change

clear

compare

consider

contain

context

control

criticism

data

decrease

depth

decide

develop

differ and different

difficult

disagree

discuss

disprove

effective

emphasis

evidence

example

explain and explanation

false

find out

framework

good

group

I

idea

identify

important

include

increase

indicate

in fact

in other words

lack

large

level

link

little

look at

mainly

many

method

more

number

occur

only

opinion

other

part

possible

problem

produce

prove

qualifiers

question

reason and cause

referring to other work

result

reviewing other work

rule

same or similar

say

scale

show

simple

some

strong

study

subject

suggest

support

term and terminology

text

theory

think

time

true

type

understand

weak

work out