Study Skills – Lesson 4 –

Academic Vocabulary II and Academic Grammar (Subject-Verb Agreement)

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 Lesson Overview

1. Academic Vocabulary II
Phrasal Verbs in Academic Writing
Metaphors and Idioms
Prepositional Phrases

2. Academic Grammar
Subject-Verb Agreement

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 1. Academic Vocabulary II
I. Phrasal Verbs in Academic Writing

Phrasal verbs and one-word synonyms:

Phrasal verb Example Synonym
to be made up of Parliament is made up of two houses.
to consist of/to be composed of
to carry out (an experiment/research) I intend to carry out a series of experiments.
to conduct/to perform
 to go into In this book the writer goes into the causes of the Civil War in some depth.
to discuss/to debate
to go through Go through your calculations carefully.
to verify
to go/look back over Please go/look back over your school assignments. 3
to revise, to review
 1. Academic Vocabulary II
I. Phrasal Verbs in Academic Writing

Phrasal verbs and one-word synonyms:

Phrasal verb Example Synonym
to make up Children under the age of 15 make up nearly half of the country’s population.
to constitute/to represent
to point out Grenne points out that the increase in life expectancy has led to some economic problems.
to observe/to remark
to point up The study points up the weaknesses in the current school system.
to highlight/to stress/to underline
to put forward (an idea/theory) In her latest article Kaufmann puts forward a theory which is likely to prove controversial.
  to present/to suggest/to offer
to set out The document sets out the terms of the treaty.

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to define/to describe/to detail/to illustrate/to outline/to specify
 1. Academic Vocabulary II
I. Phrasal Verbs in Academic Writing

Carrying out research:

Phrasal verb Example Meaning 
To go against The experiment seems to go against current theories of bee behaviour
not be in agreement with
To go on to After completing her undergraduate degree in zoology, Sarah went on to apply to graduate school.
To do something after something else

to set up Sarah set up a series of experiments investigating how bees communicate.

to prepare/to arrange
to work on Sarah wanted to work on animal behaviour at a well-know institute in New Zealand.

To study/to work in the field of

to work out Sarah has not yet worked out why her bees behave as they do.
to come to a conclusion about
to write up After completing her research, Sarah will have to write it all up.
to write a document in final form
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 1. Academic Vocabulary II
II. Metaphors and idioms

Metaphors
Broadly speaking, a metaphor indirectly compares something to something else with similar features.
In academic writing you often find verbs that express metaphors like:

i.e. New findings are attacking/demolishing the current theory

Idioms
Idioms refer to overused metaphors which are now part of the everyday language.
For instance, ‘to be snowed’ has been used in the UK for quite a while when referring to a large quantity of work.
Therefore, here is a sentence contain the idiom:
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i.e. I’m snowed under with work at the moment.
 1. Academic Vocabulary II
II. Metaphors and idioms

Metaphors and idioms referring to light and darkness:

Metaphor/Idiom Example Meaning
To elucidate Animal models can be used to elucidate principles of the origins of adult diseases.
Explain or make clear
glaring The report revealed the glaring discrepancy between the health system and the real needs.
something so bad that is obvious
To highlight The Health System issues highlighted the need for a new approach.
Emphasised something important
to illuminate Novelists and poets often use history to illuminate their understanding.
To show more clearly
something difficult to understand 7
 1. Academic Vocabulary II
II. Metaphors and idioms

Metaphors and idioms referring to war and conflict:

Metaphor/Idiom Example Meaning
To attack Critics attacked D.H. Lawrence’s novels on various grounds.
Criticized strongly or in a hostile manner
To retreat In the last two poems the poet retreats into his own mind becoming detached from the material world.
going back
Maintain a unite front Teachers need to maintain a united front on the question of bad conduct at school.

united in one’s opinion and agree on how to act

Battle It is useful at the present time to look at Japan’s experience in the battle against air pollution.
confrontation
Onslaught Firms need strategies to combat the onslaught of lawsuits.
a very powerful attack
Bombarded with In the last decades children have been bombarded with increasing amounts of violence in the media.
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forced to experience, subjected to
 1. Academic Vocabulary II
III. Prepositional Phrases

Prepositional Phrases
A Prepositional phrase is a phrase consisting of a preposition (p.), its object (o.) [usually a noun or a pronoun], and any modifiers
(m.) of the object.
p. m. (o.)
i.e. In the grey desk I use

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 1. Academic Vocabulary II
III. Prepositional Phrases

Prepositional phrases
Preposition Phrase Example Meaning
In conjunction with The book was written by Keith Pedant in conjunction with researchers from Boardham University.
working together with
In comparison with In comparison with other works on the subject, this is a very substantial volume.
In contrast to
In addition to In addition to the main text there are a number of appendices.
As well as
To some extent These are to some extent the most useful parts of the book.
In some measure
In line with The presence of a number of appendices are in line with the modern scholar practices.
in accordance with
In spite of In spite of its potentially dry topic, the book contains many fascinating examples.
despite
In particular The book contains section dealing in particular with the history of the English punctuation.
especially
With the exception of With the exception of the final chapter, this book may be of some interest to the general reader.
not including
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On the whole On the whole, this book is mainly for those readers who have a professional interest in punctuation marks.
generally
 1. Academic Vocabulary II
III. Prepositional Phrases

Prepositional phrases
Preposition Phrase ExampleMeaning
At this stage At this stage, I would like to introduce a new topic: prepositional phrases.
at this point
On behalf ofDr. Smith, I’d like to welcome you to Harvard University on behalf of all the faculty Members.
representing
As a result of My own interest in linguistics came about as a result of working abroad for a number of years.
as a consequence of
By chance I found some old letters in the attic by chance.
accidentally
By farThe letters written a hundred years ago were by far the most exciting things I had ever read.
very much
For the most part The letter were, for the most part, extremely well-written. 11
generally
 1. Academic Vocabulary II
III. Prepositional Phrases

Prepositional phrases
Preposition Phrase Example Meaning

In other words In other words, I have decided to go back to college.

said differently
On the basis of I was able to collect quite a bit of key family information on the basis of the old letters.
thanks to
In turn The agency wants to put pressure on local business people, so they, in turn, will put pressure on state officials.

consecutively
In the process We are still in the process of decorating the house.
in the middle of
In terms of Cheryl was speaking in terms of improving students’ grades by teaching the how to study.
as far as
In most respect In most respect, Anne’s comments are similar to yours.
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considering most aspects
 2. Academic Grammar
I. Subject-Verb Agreement

Subject-Verb Agreement
As we know, in English subjects (S) and verbs (V) agree in number.
However, with subjects that introduce the idea of quantity, some additional rules are needed.

A. With fractions, percentages and indefinite quantifiers (e.g., all, few, many, much, some), the verb agrees with the preceding noun or clause:
1. With a singular or non-count noun or clause, use a singular verb:
(S)One-third of this article (V)is taken up with statistical analysis.
(S)Much of the book (V)seems relevant to this study.
(S)Half of what he writes (V)is undocumented.
(S)Fifty percent of the job (V)is routine.
(S)All the information (V)is current
2. With a plural noun, use a plural verb:
(S)One-third of the students (V)have graduate degrees.
(S)Many researchers (V)depend on grants from industry.
(S)Half of his articles (V)are peer-reviewed.
(S)Fifty percent of the computers (V)have CD-ROM drives.
(S)All the studies (V)are current.
3, With a collective noun, use either a singular or a plural verb, depending on whether you want to emphasize the single group or its individual members:
(S)Half of my family (V)lives/live in Canada. 13
(S)All of the class (V)is/are here.
(S)Ten percent of the population (V)is/are bilingual.
 2. Academic Grammar
I. Subject-Verb Agreement

B. The words majority and minority are used in a variety of ways:

1. When majority/minority mean an unspecified number more or less than 50%, use a singular verb:
(S)The majority (V)holds no strong views.
(S)A small minority (V)indicates it supports the proposal.
2. When majority/minority mean a specific percentage, you may use either a singular or a plural verb:
(S)A 75% majority (V)have/has voted against the measure.
(S)A 10% minority (V)are/is opposed to the measure.
3. When majority/minority refers to a specified set of persons or things, use a plural verb:
(S)A majority of Canadians (V)have voted for change. 14
(S)A minority of the students (V)are willing to pay more.
 2. Academic Grammar
I. Subject-Verb Agreement

C. Expressions of time, money and distance usually take a singular verb:

(S)Ten dollars (V)is a great deal of money to a child.
(S)Ten kilometres (V)is too far to walk.
(S)Six weeks (V)is not long enough.

D. Adjectives preceded by the and used as plural nouns take a plural verb:
(S)The rich (V)get richer.
(S)The poor (V)face many hardships.

E. Expressions using the phrase number of depend on the meaning of the phrase:
1. They take a singular verb when referring to a single quantity:
(S)The number of students registered in the class (V)is 20.
2. They take plural verbs when they are used as indefinite quantifiers (see rule A): 15
(S)A number of students (V)were late.
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