Sentence Structure

• More complex and fewer simple sentences

• Avoiding rhetorical questions (Did you know that spoken and written language are very different?)

Punctuation/ Mechanics

• More use of commas to offset modifying phrases, introductory phrases etc.

• Use full forms, not abbreviations (versus, not vs.; etcetera, not etc.)

Word choice

• Concise and precise words, not vague ambiguous words (nice, good, pretty)

• Polysyllabic words

• Tentative - to avoid making unsupported generalizations (‘a possible cause of the company collapse may have been …’)

• Single word verbs, not phrasal verbs (arrange vs. set up, investigate vs. look into, stand vs. get up)

Establish Authority

• Documented sources, not personal experience

• More facts, not opinions

Use Nominalisation

• Fewer verbs and more nouns per sentence than informal English (It resulted in three fatalities vs. three men were killed).

• Complex noun phrases as subjects of sentences

Use Linking words

• Formal linking words (thus, moreover, whereas, for example)

• Limited use of coordination (and, but) to link ideas

• Frequent use of subordination to link ideas together (while, because, which, etc.)

Avoid Impersonal reference

• Third person (he, she, it, they)

• Occasional use of first person (I, we)

• Absence of second person (you)

Avoid Spoken

• Colloquial and slang vocabulary (‘bucks’ for ‘dollars’)

• Emotional or attitudinal connotations (‘disastrous’, ‘exciting’, ‘tremendous’)

• Expressions that exaggerate the truth (‘everyone knows’, ‘it is obvious’)

• Contractions (don’t, isn’t), abbreviations (etc., i.e.)

Adapted from: Swales, J. & Feak, C. B. 1994, Academic Writing for Graduate Students. University of Michigan Press