Unit 3: Summarizing and Responding to Writing
16 Reporting Verbs
Using Reporting Verbs Effectively
Words like “says” and “discusses” are often overused when reporting information from sources. See the chart below for alternatives to these verbs.
Categories of Reporting Verbs |
||||
| Making a claim | Recommending | Disagreeing or Questioning | Showing | Expressing Agreement |
| argue
assert believe claim emphasize hypothesize insist maintain suggest |
call for
demand encourage recommend urge warn |
challenge
criticize contradict deny dispute question refute reject |
convey
demonstrate exemplify illustrate indicate propose point out show |
agree
affirm call for endorse reaffirm support verify |
Be careful with the phrasing after your reporting verb.
Many reporting verbs can be followed by “that:”
- Experts agree that mobile devices can be distracting in the classroom.
- Gambino claims that …
- X concludes that …
- X emphasizes that …
- X implies that …
- X maintains that …
- X suggests that
- X states that …
However, some reporting verbs cannot be followed by “that:”
- discuss
- describe
Some reporting verbs can be followed by “about:”
- X talks about …
- X writes about …
However, some reporting verbs cannot be followed by “about:”
- discuss
- describe
Some reporting verbs collocate (go together) with specific words:
- agrees with
- agrees or disagrees with the idea that
- asks if/whether
- argues for
- calls for
- challenges the notion/idea that
- disputes the notion/idea that
- disagrees with
- explains how/why
- focuses on
Tip: Use the Skell Sketch Engine Corpus to see examples of how reporting verbs can be used.
