Useful phrases for abstracts

The text (article, paper)	• is about… • deals with… • presents… • describes…
In the text	• the reader gets to know… • the reader is confronted with… • the reader is told about…
The author	• says, states, points out that… • claims, believes, thinks that… • describes, explains, makes clear that… • uses examples to confirm / prove that… • agrees /disagrees with the view … • contradicts the view • criticises / analyses / comments on… • tries to express… • argues that… • suggests that… • compares X to Y… • emphasizes his point by saying that… • doubts that… • tries to convince the readers that… • concludes that…

• The texts consists of …/ may be divided into…

• In the first paragraph / exposition the author introduces…

• In the second part of the text / paragraph the author describes…

• Another example can be found …

• As a result…

• To sum up / to conclude…

• In his last remark / with his last remark/statement the author concludes that…

Reporting Verbs

strong argument	neutral	counterargument	suggestion	criticism
argue	state	refute the claim	suggest	criticize
claim	report	argue against	recommend
contend	explain
maintain	discuss
insist	illustrate
posit	observe