Cautious words list
Frequently Used Cautious Words and Phrases
Table 1 lists verbs, adverbs, nouns and phrases frequently used in academic writing to convey a cautious tone.
Table 1. Common verbs, adverbs, nouns and phrases used to convey a cautious tone.
|
Verbs |
Adverbs |
Nouns |
Common Phrases |
| may, might, could, wouldsuggests
seems to, appears to, tends to indicate
points to tends to be/indicates
|
perhapspossible, possibly
probable, probably likely, unlikely definitely
conceivably apparently relatively generally seemingly primarily
occasionally, rarely infrequently sometimes
frequently predominantly mostly, mainly, largely often usually
|
The probability of this occurrence is unlikely
possibility probability likelihood assumption
|
It seems / appears that…It would appear that….
It might be suggested that …. It may be possible to obtain…
It could be the case that… It could be said that… The evidence suggests … It is generally considered that… It is likely…
In some/many/most cases… Some believe that…
To the extent that… With the exception of….
It is relatively uncommon that…
The procedure is perhaps central to …
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