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Language, when you need it
Search concise C2 rules, vocabulary and speaking phrases without leaving the course to hunt through past lessons.
What it is
The scholarly voice keeps the writer's ego out of the sentence while still making the writer's judgement clear. You do this by putting the evidence or the idea in subject position and reserving a small set of verbs and adverbs to signal how confident you are.
Form
| Form | Pattern | Model sentence |
|---|---|---|
| Evidence-first subject | The data/findings/results + verb + claim | The findings suggest that the effect is short-lived rather than permanent. |
| Passive for method, active for claim | Samples were collected... / The results indicate... | Samples were collected over six months, and the results indicate a clear seasonal pattern. |
| Stance adverb | Adverb + claim | Crucially, the correlation held even after controlling for age. |
| Distancing modal | This may/might/could + verb | This may reflect a genuine trend rather than a sampling artefact. |
Use it when
- You're writing a report, thesis chapter or paper and need to sound credible, not showy
- You want to state a strong view without saying 'I think' every time
- You're presenting a finding you're confident about but can't yet prove beyond doubt
- You need the reader to notice your judgement without noticing you
Examples
- The evidence points to a structural cause rather than a temporary one.
- Interestingly, none of the participants reported the side effect the literature predicts.
- This pattern is unlikely to be coincidental given the sample size.
- The model performs well on training data but, notably, degrades on unseen inputs.
- Taken together, the results cast doubt on the original hypothesis.
Watch out
✗ I believe the results are important.
✓ The results appear to carry real significance for the field.
Detachment moves the claim onto the evidence, not the writer's belief.
✗ The results prove the theory is correct.
✓ The results support the theory, though further testing is needed.
Overclaiming with 'prove' undermines credibility; scholarly stance stays measured.
✗ Obviously, this shows the treatment works.
✓ This suggests the treatment may be effective.
'Obviously' sounds dismissive of the reader; hedged verbs keep the tone professional.
Remember
Let the evidence stand in the sentence's subject seat — you stay just behind it, steering.
Quick check
- 1. Why put 'the findings' or 'the data' as the subject instead of 'I'?
Reveal
It keeps the focus on evidence rather than personal opinion, which reads as more credible.
- 2. What's wrong with 'This proves my theory is right'?
Reveal
It overclaims; scholarly stance uses hedged verbs like 'suggests' or 'supports' instead of 'proves'.
- 3. Give one adverb that signals confident stance without sounding arrogant.
Reveal
Any of: crucially, notably, interestingly, importantly.