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Verbs to replace weak verbs
Relational Verbs
Stylistically, formal academic English tends to avoid overuse of the weak verbs "to be" or "to have."
One way to avoid these weak verbs is to use action verbs, which indicate the relationship between two concepts.
The following verbs are commonly used to orient the reader by categorizing concepts or describing their characteristics and features in terms of their behavior, composition, and function.
Since these characteristics concern facts or "eternal truths" about the concept described, these comments are usually expressed using the present tense.
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[PARTS]  [WHOLE]
They.... a/an...
compose
comprise
constitute
represent
form
make up
belong to
pertain to
are involved in
are included in
serve as
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[WHOLE] [PARTS]
A/An... these....
is composed of
is comprised of
consists of
contains
embodies
incorporates
encompasses
covers
subsumes
integrates
involves
includes
entails
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[WHOLE] denotes a category, type, group, procedure, or concept.
[PARTS] denotes the conditions, qualities, or functions used to define that whole
EXAMPLES:
Defining the problem entails viewing situations from the perspectives of all the participants.
These questions are difficult to answer and involve marketing research
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[FEATURE] = [CLASS]
A/An... the....
represents
forms
corresponds to
indicates
implies
signals
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[CLASS] = [FEATURE]
The... a/an...
is characterized by
accounts for
totals
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EXAMPLES:
The modern climate of the middle Atlantic region is characterized by hot and humid summers and moderately cold winters.
Robots together with various levels of expert systems form the latest in automation on the plant floor.
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Labelling Verbs
In addition to these verbs, a number of other verbs are used to orient the reader by labelling phenomena, concepts, and categories. These verbs are often accompanied by quotation marks ("..."). Examples of these include:
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[MEANING] [LABEL]
be called
be designated as
be referred to as
be known as
defines
stands for
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[LABEL] [MEANING]
denote
designate
refer to
be defined as
signify
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EXAMPLES:
Marketing managers choose what mix of marketing efforts should be made. The mix is commonly referred to as the "Four P's" of marketing.
The incubation media contained either (a) 10 mg/ml human serum albumin (denoted "serum-free medium") or (b) 20-50% v/v fetal calf serum.
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Locational Verbs
Many novice writers also overuse the verb "to be" when describing the physical location of objects.
To avoid this, use Locational verbs:
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[OBJECT] [LOCATION]
be located (at/in/on)
be positioned (at/in/on)
be fixed (to)
be attached (to)
be connected (to)
be fastened be
be joined (to)
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EXAMPLES:
Fifty seven percent of all tropical rainforests are located in Latin America.
The fuel cell is as large as a credit card and is attached to the back of a mobile phone.
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