Academic Writing and Grammar Review

Flashcards for reviewing key concepts in academic writing, grammar, and style, based on lecture notes.

What is the purpose of an academic proposal?

To convince a supervisor or committee that your topic and approach are sound and gain approval to proceed with research.

What elements should an academic proposal contain?

A rationale for the topic, a review of existing work, and an outline of the intended approach/methodology.

Why are abstracts important?

They give a first impression of the document, helping readers decide whether to continue reading.

What questions should an informative abstract answer?

Why you did the study, what you did and how, what you found, and what your findings mean.

What should you NOT do in an abstract?

Repeat the title, refer to information not in the document, or use 'I' or 'we'.

What verb tense is best to use in abstracts?

Choose active verbs instead of passive when possible.

What should the opening sentences of an abstract indicate?

Subjects dealt with in the paper and objectives of the investigation.

What should a short report communicate to the audience?

Evidence that the writer understands the material and ideas presented.

Name typical components of a short report.

Title Page, Abstract/Summary, Introduction, Background, Discussion, Conclusion, Recommendations, Attachments.

What is a key consideration for the first sentence of an abstract?

Be concise and avoid redundancy.

Should an abstract begin with non-key words?

No, shift key words or information to the beginning.

Why should you make it clear why the purpose of your investigation is important, in the abstract?

Readers are more likely to continue reading if they understand the rationale early.

How should you differentiate between state-of-the-art and your research in an abstract?

Use the past simple tense to indicate what you did and present simple for what is already known.

What words should you avoid in the abstract?

Avoid words such as "attempt" and making bold statements beginning with "this is the first…".

What is a key aspect of Correct English covered in these notes?

Faulty agreement between subjects and verbs, nouns and pronouns.

When do you use the singular form of the verb?

When the subject is singular, uncountable, or a clause.

What is the general rules for verbs adjacent to there is/there are?

The verb form matches the item(s) that it is adjacent to.

With fractions, percentages and indefinite quantifiers, how does the verb agree?

The verb agrees with the preceding noun or clause.

How should you choose the verb with a collective noun?

Use either a singular or a plural verb, depending on whether you want to emphasize the single group or its individual members.

How do expressions of time, money and distance usually agree?

They usually take a singular verb.

What type of verb do adjectives preceded by 'the' and used as plural nouns take?

A plural verb.

What do expressions using the phrase 'number of' do?

They take a singular verb when referring to a single quantity and a plural verb when they are used as indefinite quantifiers.

What does choosing the right quantifier depend on?

The grammar of the noun that you want to quantify.

What is the difference between 'every' and 'each'?

Every refers to all in a group, each refers to all in a group when you consider every one separately.

What does learning how to use punctuation correctly do?

Helps to make the meaning of a sentence clear for the reader.

What is a sentence fragment?

An incomplete sentence missing a subject or a verb.

What should pronouns such as it and this do?

Refer to something specific.

What should you ask yourself when deciding if you should use the word 'the'?

Is the noun indefinite (unspecified) or definite (specific)?

When are nouns indicating direction used?

Nouns indicating direction do not take the definite article; nouns indicating placement, however, do take the article.

Certain nouns refer to either a place/object or to an activity. When do they refer to an activity?

When they refer to an activity, do not use the definite article.

What do names of decades, centuries and historic periods take?

The definite article, as they are a form of unique reference.

When is the use of the indefinite article incorrect?

You should not use a possessive to make plurals.

What should you not confuse prepositions with?

An infinitive form

After prepositions, what should you use gerunds or infinitives?

Gerunds only.

What are common mistakes with the obligatory object?

The obligatory object CANNOT be omitted.

What can the first sentence of an abstract do?

Encourage someone to stop reading, if poorly written.

How does subject-verb agreement work?

Subjects and verbs must agree in number, e.g. I research but he researches.

What is 'the' used with?

Nouns which refer to shared knowledge of the situation or context.

What is a potential issue with the word attempt?

It is misleading. It suggest that you tried to do something but does not tell the reader whether you actually succeeded or not.