MEPX
Chapter 8 of 10All chapters
  1. 1Why context works
  2. 2The four clue types
  3. 3Word parts
  4. 4Shades of meaning
  5. 5Building vocabulary
  6. 6Vocabulary in exams
  7. 7Figurative use
  8. 8Academic and formal words
  9. 9Latin and Greek roots
  10. 10Keeping it

Chapter 8 of 10

Academic and formal words

The vocabulary of argument.

A useful set

Assert, imply, infer, refute, corroborate, qualify, concede, contend, undermine, substantiate. These describe what a text is doing, not what it is about.

  • Imply is what the writer does; infer is what the reader does.
  • Refute means to disprove, not merely to deny, though usage is shifting.

Hedging

May, suggests, appears and tends to signal the strength of a claim. Noticing them is how you read a scientific or legal text accurately.