Course : English for Academic Writing

Effective Period : September 2021

Features of Writing
(Part 2)

Session 9
Sub-themes:
1. Nouns and adjectives
2. Prefixes-suffixes
3. Preposition
4. Punctuation
5. Synonym
6. Time words
 Acknowledgement

These slides have been adapted from:

Bailey, Stephen. (2018). Academic Writing: A Handbook for

International Students. 5th E. Routledge. Abingdon.
ISBN: 9781138048744.
 Learning Objectives

• LO1 Design the draft which includes introduction,

body, and conclusion for writing in academic style
• LO2 Integrate the strategies in avoiding plagiarism in
writing an academic essay
• LO3 Write an Academic essay either in MLA or APA
style
 Nouns and adjectives (1)
It is easy to confuse the noun and adjective form of words such as ‘possibility’ and ‘possible’. This
section gives examples of some of the most common pairs, and provides practice with their use.

Using noun and adjectives

Compare these sentences:
The efficiency of the machine depends on the precision of its construction.
Precise construction results in an efficient machine.
The first sentence uses the nouns ‘efficiency’ and ‘precision’. The second uses
adjectives: ‘precise’ and ‘efficient’. Although the meaning is similar the first sentence
is more formal. Effective academic writing requires accurate use of both nouns and
adjectives.

Abstract Noun
A range of nouns is used to express common ideas in academic writing:
Political geography is an interesting field.
The concept of class was first discussed in the eighteenth century.
Drucker developed a new approach in his second book.
 Nouns and adjectives (2)
Practice
Instruction Read the following and find a synonym for each word in bold from the
box below (there are more words than sentences).
process views theory worry machine problem
organizati
event types cause feature answer area on
a. The second factor in the recession was the loss of confidence.
b. Smith’s concept of the division of labour was first presented in 1776.
c. Snow is a rare phenomenon in Rome.
d. The President’s resignation gave a new aspect to the national crisis.
e. A barcode scanner is a device used at supermarket checkouts.
f. Her field is integrating content and language learning.
g. The World Bank is a body created to support developing countries.
h. Mendel’s work on genetics provided new perspectives for agronomists.
i. Their main concern is to prevent a further increase in crime.
j. The new system allows errors to be detected in 12 seconds.
k. The survey identified three categories of voluntary workers.
l. The most serious issue raised at the meeting was student accommodation.
 Prefixes and suffixes (1)
Prefixes and suffixes are the first and last parts of certain words. Understanding the meaning of
prefixes and suffixes can help you work out the meaning of a word, and is particularly useful
when you meet specialist new vocabulary.

How prefix works

(a) Negative prefixes: UN-, IN-, MIS- and DIS- often give adjectives and verbs a
negative meaning: unclear, incapable, mishear, disagree
(b) A wide variety of prefixes define meaning e.g., PRE- usually means ‘before’,
hence prefer, prehistory and, of course, prefix.

Practice
Instruction Find the meaning(s) of each prefix (NB. some prefixes have more than
one meaning).

--- Go to slideshow mode and click next to show the prefix exercise.
 Prefixes and suffixes (2)
How suffix works
(a) Some suffixes like –ION, -IVE or –LY help the reader find the word class e.g.,
noun, verb or adjective.
(b) Other suffixes add to meaning, e.g. –FUL or –LESS after an adjective have a
positive or negative effect (thoughtful/ careless).

Word class suffix

-ER often indicates a person: teacher, gardener; -EE can show a person who is
the subject: employee, trainee; -ISM and –IST are often used with belief
Noun systems and their supporters: socialism/ socialist; -NESS converts an adjective
into a noun: sad/ sadness; -ION changes a verb to a noun: convert/ conversion

-IVE effective, constructive; -AL commercial, agricultural; -IOUS precious,

Adjectives serious
-ISE / -IZE to form verbs from adjectives: private/ privatise NB. In the USA only
Verbs –ize spelling is used, but both forms are accepted in the UK
Adverbs -LY most (but not all) adverbs have this suffix: happily
 Prefixes and suffixes (3)
Meaning suffixes
A few suffixes contribute to the meaning of the word:
• -ABLE has the meaning of ‘ability’: a watchable film, changeable weather
• -WARDS means ‘in the direction of’: the ship sailed northwards
• -FUL and -LESS: hopeful news, a leaderless team

Practice
Instruction Study each sentence and find the meaning of the words underlined.
• The film is a French-Italian co-production made by a subsidiary company.
• When the car crashed, she screamed involuntarily but was unharmed.
• Using rechargeable batteries has undoubted benefits for the environment.
• The unavailability of the product is due to the exceptional weather.
• There is a theoretical possibility of the machine disintegrating.
 Prepositions (1)
Prepositions are generally short words such as ‘by’ or ‘at’ which are often linked to nouns, verbs
and adjectives. Their use may seem confusing, but this unit explains how they can be understood.
Students should consult a standard English grammar for a full list of prepositional combinations.

Using prepositions
Instruction Underline the prepositions in the following text (ignoring to + infinitives).
The purpose of this paper is to examine the development of the textile industry in
Catalonia over the period 1780–1880. This clearly contributed to the region’s
industrialisation, and was valuable for stimulating exports. In conclusion, the paper
sets out to demonstrate the relationship between the decline in agricultural
employment and the supply of cheap labour in the factory context.

Then, find one example of each in the above text

Noun + preposition Preposition of place
Verb + preposition Preposition of time

Adjective + Phrase
preposition Phrasal verb
 Notes
In general, prepositions are classified
into three:
- Prepositions and nouns
Prepositions (2) - Preposition in phrases
- Prepositions of place and time
Using prepositions (Cont.d)
Note the difference between phrasal verbs and verbs with prepositions:
The cars are made in Korea. (verb + preposition = easy to understand)
The researcher made up some of his data. (phrasal verb = hard to
understand)

Practice
Instruction Complete the following text with suitable prepositions.
This study sets (a)____________ to answer the controversial question (b)____________ whether
increased food supply (c)____________ a country makes a significant contribution (d)____________
reducing malnutrition (e)____________ children. It uses data collected (f)____________ 75
countries (g) ____________ 1969 and 1987. The findings are that there was a considerable
improvement (h)____________ the majority (i)____________ countries, despite increases in
population 210 Part 3 Accuracy in writing (j)____________ the period. However, a clear distinction
was found (k)____________ the poorest countries (e.g. (l)____________ South Asia), where the
improvement was greatest, and the wealthier states such as those (m)____________ North Africa.
Other factors, notably the educational level (n)____________ women, were also found to be critical
(o)____________ improving childhood nutrition.
 Punctuation (1)
Accurate punctuation and use of capitals help the reader to understand exactly what the
writer meant. While some aspects of punctuation, such as the use of commas, can be a
matter of individual style, correct punctuation in areas such as quotation is important.

Capital
It is difficult to give precise rules about the use of capital letters in modern English. However, they
should be used in the following cases:
- The first word in a sentence In the beginning . . .
- Names of organisations Sheffield Hallam University
- Days and months Friday 21 July
- Nationality words France and the French
- Names of people/ places Dr Martin Lee from Sydney
- Book titles (main words only) Power and the State

Apostrophes (‘)
These are one of the most misused features of English punctuation. They are mainly used in two
situations:
(a) to show contractions
He’s the leading authority
(NB. contractions are not common in academic English)
(b) with possessives
The professor’s secretary (singular)
Students’ marks (plural)
 Punctuation (2)
Semi-colons (;)
They are used to show the link between two connected phrases, when a comma
would be too weak and a full stop too strong.
20 people were interviewed for the first study; 33 for the second.
Semi-colons are also used to divide up items in a list when they have a
complex structure, as in a multiple citation:
(Maitland, 2006; Rosenor, 1997; New Scientist, 2006b;
University of Michigan, 2000).
NB. semi-colons are quite rare in many types of writing.

Colons (:)
(a) to introduce explanations
The meeting was postponed: the Dean was ill.
(b) to start a list
Three aspects were identified: financial, social and . . .
(c) to introduce a quotation
As the Duchess of Windsor said: ‘You can never be too rich or too thin’.
 Punctuation (3)
Quotations marks / inverted commas (“..” and ‘..’) Other punctuation
(a) Single quotation marks are used to emphasise a word: includes:
The word ‘factory’ was first used in the seventeenth century. Hyphens ( – ) are used with
to give quotations from other writers: certain words and
Goodwin’s (1977) analysis of habit indicates that, in general, ‘it will structures:
be more difficult to reverse a trend than to accentuate it’. well-engineered/ co-
to show direct speech: operative/ three-year-old
‘Can anyone find the answer?’ asked the lecturer.
NB. Longer quotations are usually indented (i.e. have a wider margin) Exclamation marks (!) and
and/ or are set in smaller type. question marks (?)
‘Well!’ he shouted, ‘Who
(American English uses double quotation marks to show quotations). would believe it?’

(b) Double quotation marks are used to show quotations inside Brackets or parentheses ( )
quotations (nested quotations): can be used to give
As Kauffman remarked: ‘his concept of “internal space” requires additional detail:
close analysis.’ Relatively few people (10–
(c) In references, quotation marks are used for the names of articles and 15 per cent) were literate in
chapters, but book or journal titles normally use italics: sixteenth-century Russia.
Russell, T. (1995) ‘A future for coffee?’ Journal of Applied
Marketing 6, 14–17.
 Singular and Plural (1)
The choice of singular or plural can be confusing in various situations, such as in the use of
countable and uncountable nouns. This unit illustrates the main areas of difficulty.

Five areas of difficulty

The main problem areas for international students are shown below.
(a) Nouns should agree with verbs, and pronouns with nouns:
– Those problems are unique.
(b) Uncountable nouns and irregular plurals usually have no final ‘s’:
– Most students receive free tuition.
(c) General statements normally use the plural:
– State universities have lower fees.
(d) ‘Each/ every’ are followed by singular noun and verb forms:
– Every student gets financial support.
(e) Two linked nouns should agree:
– Both the similarities and differences are important.

Group phrases
 Singular and Plural (2)
Uncountable nouns
Most nouns in English are countable, but the following are generally uncountable, i.e., they are not
usually used with numbers or the plural ‘s’.

Another group of uncountable nouns is used for materials: wood/ rubber/ iron/ coffee/ paper/
water/ oil/ stone
Little wood is used in the construction of motor vehicles.
The most difficult group can be used either as countable or uncountable nouns, often with quite
different meanings (further examples: business/ capital/ experience):
She developed an interest in genetics. (countable)
The bank is paying 4 per cent interest. (uncountable)
Other nouns with a similar pattern are used for general concepts (love/ fear/ hope):
Most people feel that life is too short (in general)
Nearly 20 lives were lost in the mining accident (in particular)
 Synonyms
Synonyms are different words with a similar meaning. A good writer uses them to avoid
repetition and thus provide more interest for the reader. Synonyms should also be used when
paraphrasing or note-making to avoid plagiarism.

Common synonyms in academic writing

Instruction Match the academic synonyms in each list.

Many motor manufacturers are

currently planning to start making
electric cars. Their plan is to make cars
that are cheaper and less polluting. But
the motor manufacturers face several
key difficulties. One key difficulty is the
limited range of the battery, while
another difficulty is its cost and weight.
But the motor manufacturers predict
that these difficulties will soon be
overcome and predict that 10 per cent
of cars will be powered by electricity in
five years’ time.
 Time words (1)
Time words such as ‘during’ and ‘since’ are often used in introductions or general statements.
The use of some of these words is restricted to particular tenses.

How time words are used

She went on a training course for six weeks. (with numbers, without start date)
The report must be finished by 12 June. (on or before)
(with present perfect must specify
He has been president since 2007 start date)

They are studying in Bristol until March. (end of a period)

The library was opened two years ago. (usually with past)

The hotel is closed during the winter. (with nouns)

(often followed by –ing form; also

Before writing he studied over 100 sources.
after)

He applied in May and was accepted two months later. (often used with numbers; also
earlier)
 Time words (2)
Time words and tenses
Caution is also needed to avoid making statements that are too simplistic:
• Past - Last year there was an election in Spain.
• Present perfect - In the last year there has been a decline in inflation.
• Present perfect - Recently, there has been a sharp rise in internet use.
• Present - Currently, there is widespread concern about plagiarism.

Complete each gap in the following text with a suitable word.

(a)_________________ the last few decades there has been a significant change in eating habits in
the UK. (b)_________________ the early 1980s eating out in restaurants and cafes has increased
steadily. There are several reasons for this trend. 50 years (c)_________________ most women
were housewives, and cooked for their families every day. But (d)_________________, with more
women working outside the home, less time has been available for food preparation.
(e)_________________, 71 per cent of women aged 20–45 are at work, and
(f)_________________ 2020 it is estimated that this will rise to 85 per cent. Another factor is the
growth in disposable income, which has risen significantly (g)_________________ the late 1970s.
With more money in their pockets people are more likely to save the trouble of shopping and
cooking by visiting their local restaurant.
 References

• Bailey, Stephen. (2018). Academic Writing: A

Handbook for International Students. 5th
E. Routledge. Abingdon. ISBN: 9781138048744.