Academic Writer
academic writer: tone: tentative statements
Making tentative statements
Writing in a tentative tone means making cautious and careful statements.
When you put forward your opinion or point of view, you have a choice. You can choose to
be more assertive (confident) or more tentative (cautious). In the following table
assertive comments are near the top, and tentative comments near the bottom.
Recommendation: Make tentative statements!
A tentative tone is not a mark of failure. Your reader will probably respect your judgement in making a statement which is suitable for the evidence you provide.
| Tone | Comment | |
| Very assertive: | The reason why so many people divorce is because of gambling. | Suggests gambling is the reason for divorce, full stop. |
| Quite assertive: | The main reason why so many people divorce is because of gambling. | There may be other reasons for divorce. |
| Quite tentative: | One of the main reasons why so many people divorce is because of gambling. | Gambling may be only one of many reasons for divorce. |
| Very tentative: | One of the main reasons why so many people divorce might be because of gambling. | There are many reasons for divorce and gambling is possibly one of them. |
| Very tentative + support: | According to Green (1992), one of the main reasons why so many people divorce might be because of gambling. | Suggests that the conclusion is Green's responsibility! - Citations are always safe |
Modal verbs such as could, may and might are common in academic writing because they help writers express uncertainty or tentativeness. Also common are the verbs appear to and seem to, as well as adverbs of probability: perhaps, possibly, probably, likely, unlikely.
Making tentative statements: Useful words to qualify your statements
| practically | It may be that... | in effect |
| so to speak | It might be that... | more or less |
| to all intents and purposes | we could say that | One of the main reasons why... |
| to some extent | almost | This suggests that... |
| up to a point | in a way | It is unclear whether... |
Dealing with evidence
| It is widely accepted that | It has been widely argued that | It has been shown that |
| Studies have shown that | It has been convincingly argued that | Leading authorities argue that |
| X argues that |
Describing the context
| In parts of Asia | The available statistics demonstrate that | |
| Published sources in the field suggest that | Based on this survey, a majority of Engineering students think that |
More authentic phrases
| At the same time it could be argued that… | It is tempting to pose another question. | Nor is it entirely fanciful to suggest that… |
| For one thing it could be argued that… | It may well be asked how… | Of course it could be argued that… |
| Indeed, it might be argued that… | It might be argued that… | Still, there is no denying that… |
Academic Writer 2000