Join In
Twitter
YouTube
Weekly Newsletter
Libraries
A-Z Grammatical Terms
A-Z Confused Words
FAQs by Writers
A-Z Awkward Plurals
Punctuation Lessons
Common Mistakes
(ordered by seriousness) ESL Vocabulary Lists Parts of Speech Lists A-Z Idioms and Proverbs Grammar Videos
(ordered by category) Tests and Games Top Tip Install a grammar checker
for your browser
(ordered by seriousness) ESL Vocabulary Lists Parts of Speech Lists A-Z Idioms and Proverbs Grammar Videos
(ordered by category) Tests and Games Top Tip Install a grammar checker
for your browser
List of Reporting Verbs in Academic Writing
200 Reporting Verbs for Students and Academics
Here is a list of 200 verbs used to introduce ideas or quotations in academic writing. (These verbs are called "reporting verbs or "verbs of attribution.")Reporting verbs are usually written in the present tense, most commonly in the third person singular (i.e., the "he, she, it" version), which is how they are listed. For example:
- Albert Einstein agrees that... (The reporting verb "to agree" is in the present tense, third person singular.)
- Albert Einstein and Arthur Patschke agree that... (The reporting verb "to agree" is in the present tense. This time, it is in the third person plural because the subject is two people, i.e., plural.)
Just for fun, we've added game of hangman, which selects a verb from this list as the secret word. t Reporting verbs (also known as "verbs of attribution") are an essential aspect of academic writing, as they allow writers to clearly attribute ideas and information to their original sources. In academic writing, it is important to properly credit the sources of any ideas, facts, or data that are not the writer's own. Reporting verbs are verbs that indicate who said or wrote the information being presented, such as "argued," "claimed," "explained," "stated," or "suggested."
By using reporting verbs, writers can convey to their readers the credibility and authority of their sources, and make clear distinctions between their own ideas and those of others. Reporting verbs can also add sophistication and clarity to academic writing, making it easier for readers to understand the complex ideas and arguments being presented.

Sortable, Editable, and Printable List
Sort
Edit
Language
Columns


accentuates, accepts, accounts for, accuses, acknowledges, addresses, adds, admits, advises, advocates, affirms, agrees, alerts, alleges, allows, analyzes/analyses, announces, answers, apologizes/apologises, applauds, appraises, argues, articulates, asks, asserts, assesses, assumes, assures, attacks, aver, believes, blames, boasts, categorizes/categorises, challenges, charges, cites, claims, clarifies, comments, compares, complains, concedes, concludes, concurs, concurs with, confesses, confirms, confuses, congratulates, considers, contends, contents, continues, contradicts, contrasts, convinces, counters, criticizes/criticises, critiques, deals, deals with, debates, decides, declares, defines, denies, describes, disagrees, discards, disclaims, discounts, discourse, discovers, discusses, dismisses, disputes, disregards, doubts, echoes, emphasizes/emphasises, encourages, endorses, estimates, evaluates, examines, exclaims, exhorts, explains, expresses, extols, feels, finds, forbids, forgets, grants, guarantees, guesses, highlights, holds, hopes, hypothesizes/hypothesises, identifies, ignores, illustrates, imagines, implies, indicates, infers, informs, insinuates, insists, instructs, interprets, intimates, introduces, investigates, justifies, knows, lists, maintains, mentions, mumbles, negates, notes, objects, objects to, observes, offers, opposes, outlines, persuades, points out, posits, postulates, praises, presents, professes, promises, pronounces, proposes, propounds, proves, questions, realizes/realises, reasons, recites, recognizes/recognises, recommends, refutes, rejects, remarks, reminds, replies, reports, requests, responds, restates, reveals, says, scrutinizes/scrutinises, sees, sets forth, shows, specifies, speculates, states, stresses, studies, subscribes to, suggests, supports, supposes, tells, theorizes/theorises, thinks, threatens, underscores, understands, upholds, urges, uses, utilizes/utilises, utters, verifies, warns, whines, with, wonders, writes
Learn with Hangman!
Hangman is a classic word game. In this version, the hidden word is always a pronoun from this list. (Choose your first letter to start.)- Guess the hidden preposition by choosing one letter at a time.
- If you guess a letter in the hidden preposition, then all is good.
- If you guess a letter that is not in the hidden preposition, then the hangman starts to build the gallows.
- If the gallows are completed, you lose.
- Good luck!
Help Us Improve Grammar Monster
- Do you disagree with something on this page?
- Did you spot a typo?
Find Us Quicker!
- When using a search engine (e.g., Google, Bing), you will find Grammar Monster quicker if you add #gm to your search term.