Hedging and cautious language
Write and speak with appropriate caution: modal verbs, tentative verbs, adverbs, quantifiers and distancing phrases used in academic English.
In this lesson you will
- Use a range of hedging devices
- Match the strength of a claim to the evidence
- Avoid over-hedging
Learn
Why hedge? Academic and professional writers avoid claiming more than their evidence supports. Compare: Social media causes depression (too strong) vs Heavy social media use may be associated with* higher rates of depression*.
Devices: modals (may, might, could); tentative verbs (suggest, indicate, appear, seem, tend to); adverbs (possibly, arguably, apparently, largely, relatively); quantifiers (some, many, in most cases); nouns (a possibility, a tendency).
Distancing phrases: It has been suggested that… ; There is some evidence that… ; To some extent… ; It could be argued that… ; According to…
Balance: don’t stack hedges: It might possibly perhaps suggest… ✗. One or two devices per claim is enough. Strong evidence justifies stronger claims (clearly demonstrates).
Examples
- The results suggest that sleep may play a role in memory.
- This is arguably the most important factor.
- In most cases, patients recovered within a week.
- It could be argued that the policy was premature.
Vocabulary
hedge
make a claim more cautious
tentative
not certain
arguably
it can be argued that
tendency
a likelihood to behave in a certain way
overstate
claim more than is true
Practice
Which is appropriately hedged?
Speaking
Present three findings from an imaginary survey cautiously, using hedging devices appropriately — not too strong, not too weak.
Writing
Rewrite five over-confident claims about technology and young people as appropriately hedged academic sentences, then write a 100-word paragraph using them.
Lesson quiz
“Seem” and “appear” are…
Review
Key points
- Modals, tentative verbs, adverbs, quantifiers.
- Distancing phrases.
- Match strength to evidence.
- Don’t stack hedges.
What you learned
- ✓ I hedge appropriately.
- ✓ I calibrate my claims.
- ✓ I sound academic, not uncertain.