Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The Student Phrase Book
The Student Phrase Book
For a complete listing of all our titles in this area please visit www.macmillanihe.com/study-skills
The Student Phrase Book
Vocabulary for Writing at University
Second Edition
Jeanne Godfrey
© Jeanne Godfrey, under exclusive licence to Macmillan Education Limited 2020
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this
publication may be made without written permission.
No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted
save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence
permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency,
Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS.
Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication
may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The author has asserted their rights to be identified as the author of this
work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This edition published 2020 by
RED GLOBE PRESS
Previous edition published under the imprint PALGRAVE
Red Globe Press in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Education Limited,
registered in England, company number 01755588, of 4 Crinan Street,
London, N1 9XW.
Red Globe Press® is a registered trademark in the United States, the United
Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-352-00833-3 paperback
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully
managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing
processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the
country of origin.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
Contents
Introductionix
v
Time, change and movement 102
15 Time, sequence, duration and frequency 102
16 Change, movement, trend and tendency 111
vi Contents
Conclusions, clarification and future action 211
32 Conclusions, implications and new ideas 211
33 Qualifying conclusions and degrees of certainty 219
34 Summary, clarification and restatement of position 224
35 Recommendations, solutions and future action 229
Appendices235
Latin abbreviations and phrases 235
Word class: a brief explanation 238
Word table 241
Index 251
Contents vii
Introduction
Why and how you should use The Student Phrase Book
To write successfully at university you need to communicate your ideas, arguments and research clearly
and effectively; using words and phrases imprecisely or incorrectly will lessen the clarity and credibility of
your work.
As examples of unclear writing, below are five essay sentences in which the writers have used either the
wrong word, the wrong word form, or the wrong word before or after the key word.
Why you might use a word How The Student Phrase Book can help you
incorrectly or imprecisely
• You don’t know enough words. • This book gives you around 2,000 key academic words, with
definitions and important word information given for over
1,000 of these. The words presented are appropriate
for formal and clear writing at university level.
• You can’t learn new words using a • The words are presented within 35 common assignment
dictionary because you don’t know writing functions or contexts, and are listed under these
the words to look them up. sections in the word table at the back of the book. This
means that you can start by looking up what you want to
do and then find the words you need to do it.
ix
Why you might use a word How The Student Phrase Book can help you
incorrectly or imprecisely
• When trying to use your own words, • Using a thesaurus often leads to word mistakes because
you choose an incorrect synonym words rarely have exact, appropriate synonyms. The first part
from a thesaurus. of each section, ‘Words in action’, presents different word
choices in the context of real example sentences, e.g.:
Vaccines imitate / mimic / emulate the natural infection,
tricking the immune system into producing antibodies.
• You partially understand a word • The second part of each section, ‘Information to help you
when you read it but need a fuller use these words correctly’, gives you clear, simple
understanding to use it precisely definitions.
in your writing. There is also an alphabetical word index at the end of the
book, which you can use to find the definitions and other
important information about words you come across in
your reading.
• You get the main word right but • The ‘Information’ part of each section also tells you what
make a mistake with the words that words are commonly used with the key word, e.g.:
come before or after it. Widespread (s1.2)
A widespread occurrence // phenomenon // assumption
// belief // (mis)conception.
Stance (s14.2)
A tough // firm // ethical // moral stance on X.
• You sometimes confuse words that • The ‘Information’ part of each section also gives you useful
look similar but have different information about the difference between commonly
meanings, or confuse words that confused words, e.g.:
have a similar but not the same collate and compile (s6.2)
meaning.
methodology and method (s6.2)
• When you check your writing you • The third part of each section, ‘Nearly but not quite right’,
sometimes don’t spot your mistakes. gives you ten incorrect sentences containing common
errors, followed by the corrected sentences. You can use
these sentences to test your vocabulary knowledge,
improve your proofreading skills and to avoid making simi-
lar mistakes yourself.
x Introduction
To sum up, you can use The Student Phrase Book to:
●● find and use new words while you are preparing and writing assignments
●● check words you already partially know
●● check words you come across in your reading
●● develop your word knowledge and ability to use words correctly and precisely.
While helping you do the above, The Student Phrase Book also gives you:
●● an introduction to each section containing useful tips on key aspects of assignment writing
●● examples of good academic writing style
●● examples of how to incorporate and reference source material
●● real topics, issues and sources from a range of academic disciplines.
s27.1
●● A (common) criticism of Dawkins’ position is that he overstates the role religion plays in human
conflict.
Introduction xi
Information to help you use these words correctly
This part of each section gives you short, simple definitions, concentrating on the words and word forms
(noun, adjective, verb, adverb) most useful for academic writing. Other useful information includes
common word combinations and the differences between commonly confused words.
Three symbols are used in the ‘Information to help you use these words correctly’ sections:
Words that are always or often used with the key word
An asterisk * indicates that the word is given in its common British spelling but that there is also an
alternative British spelling (-ize, -ization) and/or a US spelling (-ize, -ization).
xii Introduction
Topic, aim and argument
1 Topic
The first few lines of your assignment should tell your reader why your topic, issue or question is important
and interesting. If you are doing higher level undergraduate or postgraduate work, you might also want
to tell your reader briefly why your research question is important; perhaps your investigation is needed
because of the lack of existing knowledge in the field. Whatever your level of study, don’t start discussing
your issue in detail – leave this until the main body of your text.
1
▸▸ The concept of / idea of renewable energy is not as recent as is often thought.
▸▸ Blogs are relatively recent phenomena. / Blogging is a relatively recent phenomenon.
▸▸ Recent developments in ‘invisible technology’ have made its use in daily life more feasible.
1 Topic 3
consideration n n – (1) An issue, idea or action that needs thinking about.
consider v (2) Care and respect for others.
(3) In law or business, something of agreed financial value.
1 Topic 5
factor n / v n – One of several things that causes or influences something else.
v – To include or exclude something as relevant when making a decision.
n – Age was a key factor in the types of responses given in the survey.
A(n) major / important // deciding / determining // causal // contributing
factor.
v – We should factor gender in to // out of our datasets.
issue n / v n – Something argued about that affects a lot of people. Usually used in a
political or social context.
v – To give out or to circulate.
phenomenon n Something that exists, usually used to refer to something interesting, unique or
difficult to understand.
Phenomenon is the singular form.
E.g. Social networking is a recent phenomenon.
Phenomena is the plural form.
E.g. Supernatural phenomena are difficult to define.
widespread adj Something specific that exists or happens (e.g. a belief, poverty, disease) over a
large area.
Widespread use of // support for // acceptance of // criticism of //
condemnation of // concern about // assumption that // belief that //
rejection of // speculation // consultation // concern // ignorance //
misunderstanding // corruption // disease // deprivation // suffering //
poverty // unemployment.
A widespread occurrence // phenomenon // assumption // belief // (mis)
conception // debate // problem.
idespread can be used to describe a debate or problem but not a question or
W
issue.
E.g. It is a widespread question. ✘
Wide spread and spread wide are both incorrect.
Incorrect Correct
1 Genetically modified organisms and Genetically modified organisms and drug
drug development are two key factors in development are two key aspects of / areas in
biotechnology. biotechnology.
2 The question of whether to legalise drugs is The question of whether to legalise drugs is a
widespread across EU member states. common one across EU member states.
3 Issues have been raised on the reclassification Questions have been raised over the
of cannabis. reclassification of cannabis.
4 Cloning acquired a very small consideration Cloning received very little consideration /
until the birth of Dolly the sheep. attention until the birth of Dolly the sheep.
5 Recreational drug use continues to be a Recreational drug use continues to be a
controversy in the UK. controversial issue / topic in the UK.
6 The last decade has seen a rapid growth of the The last decade has seen a rapid growth in the
biotechnology industry. biotechnology industry.
7 This type of software program is a recent This type of software program is a recent
phenomena in information technology. phenomenon in information technology.
8 This is a questionable issue. This is a controversial / contentious / debatable
issue.
9 The use of pesticides forms an issue in the The use of pesticides is an issue in the local
local community. community.
10 There is a growing concern in immigration in There is a growing concern about immigration in
Europe. Europe.
1 Topic 7
2 Aim and scope
At the start of your essay or report you should state your aim and scope. In your aims be clear about
whether you are going to analyse, examine, provide data, evaluate, discuss, make recommendations and
so on, or do several of these things in sequence. If you are writing a discursive essay you will usually also
need to state what it is you will attempt to show or argue. Describing this is often referred to as your
proposition or thesis statement. You will find words and phrases for doing this in section 3.
Note that the use of I is increasingly acceptable in academic writing when stating your aim, scope and
argument, although you should check this with your tutor.