In English, we often have to analyze data, research, or facts. Do you know how to do this effectively, while using the appropriate verbs of analysis? This list of 50 verbs of analysis in English will help you.
Note: this list is for advanced English learners (CEFR level B2 or above). All definitions are from the Cambridge Dictionary online.
50 Verbs of Analysis for English Academic Essays
Affects
Definition: to have an influence on someone or something, or to cause a change in someone or something.
Example: Experts agree that coffee affects the body in ways we have not yet studied.
Amplifies
Definition: to increase the size or effect of something.
Example: It has been shown that this drug amplifies the side effects that were experienced by patients in previous trials.
Asserts
Definition: to say that something is certainly true.
Example: Smith asserts that his findings are valid, despite criticism by colleagues.
Characterizes
Definition: Something that characterizes another thing is typical of it.
Example: His early paintings are characterized by a distinctive pattern of blue and yellow.
Claims
Definition: to say that something is true or is a fact, although you cannot prove it and other people might not believe it.
Example: Smith claims that the study is the first of its kind, and very different from the 2015 study he conducted.
Clarifies
Definition: to make something clear or easier to understand by giving more details or a simpler explanation.
Example: The professor clarified her statement with a later, more detailed, statement.
Compiles
Definition: to collect information from different places and arrange it in a book, report, or list.
Example: After compiling the data, the scientists authored a ten-page paper on their study and its findings.
Concludes
Definition: to judge or decide something after thinking carefully about it.
Example: Doctor Jensen concluded that the drug wasn’t working, so he switched his patient to a new medicine.
Confirms
Definition: to prove that a belief or an opinion that was previously not completely certain is true.
Example: This new data confirms the hypothesis many researchers had.
Connects
Definition: to join or be joined with something else.
Example: By including the criticisms of two researchers, Smith connects two seemingly different theories and illustrates a trend with writers of the Romanticism period.
Differentiates
Definition: to show or find the difference between things that are compared.
Example: Smith differentiates between the two theories in paragraph 4 of the second part of the study.
Diminishes
Definition: to reduce or be reduced in size or importance.
Example: The new findings do not diminish the findings of previous research; rather, it builds on it to present a more complicated theory about the effects of global warming.
Discredits
Definition: to cause people to stop respecting someone or believing in an idea or person.
Example: The details about the improper research done by the institution discredits the institution’s newest research.
Displays
Definition: to show.
Example: Smith’s findings display the effects of global warming that have not yet been considered by other scientists.
Disproves
Definition:to prove that something is not true.
Example: Scientists hope that this new research will disprove the myth that vaccines are harmful to children.
Distinguishes
Definition:to notice or understand the difference between two things, or to make one person or thing seem different from another.
Example: Our study seems similar to another one by Duke University: how can we distinguish ourselves and our research from this study?
Elaborates
Definition: to add more information to or explain something that you have said.
Example: In this new paper, Smith elaborates on theories she discussed in her 2012 book.
Embodies
Definition: to represent a quality or an idea exactly.
Example: Shakespeare embodies English theater, but few can understand the antiquated (old) form of English that is used in the plays.
Emulates
Definition: to copy something achieved by someone else and try to do it as well as they have.
Example: Although the study emulates some of the scientific methods used in previous research, it also offers some inventive new research methods.
Enhances
Definition: to improve the quality, amount, or strength of something.
Example: The pharmaceutical company is looking for ways to enhance the effectiveness of its current drug for depression.
Entails
Definition: to make something necessary, or to involve something.
Example: The scientist’s study entails several different stages, which are detailed in the report.
Equates
Definition: to consider one thing to be the same as or equal to another thing.
Example: Findings from both studies equate; therefore, we can conclude that they are both accurate.
Establishes
Definition: to discover or get proof of something.
Example: The award establishes the main causes of global warming.
Evokes
Definition: to make someone remember something or feel an emotion.
Example: The artist’s painting evokes the work of some of the painters from the early 1800s.
Exhibits
Definition: to show something.
Example: Some of the research study participants exhibit similar symptoms while taking the medicine.
Facilitates
Definition: to make something possible or easier.
Example: The equipment that facilitates the study is expensive and of high-quality.
Focuses
Definition: the main or central point of something, especially of attention or interest.
Example: The author focuses on World War II, which is an era she hasn’t written about before.
Foreshadows
Definition: to act as a warning or sign of a future event.
Example: The sick bird at the beginning of the novel foreshadows the illness the main character develops later in the book.
Formulates
Definition: to develop all the details of a plan for doing something.
Example: Two teams of scientists formulated the research methods for the study.
Generates
Definition: to cause something to exist.
Example: The study’s findings have generated many questions about this new species of frog in South America.
Highlights
Definition: to attract attention to or emphasize something important.
Example: The author, Dr. Smith, highlights the need for further studies on the possible causes of cancer among farm workers.
Identifies
Definition: to recognize a problem, need, fact, etc. and to show that it exists.
Example: Through this study, scientists were able to identify three of the main factors causing global warming.
Illustrates
Definition: to show the meaning or truth of something more clearly,especially by giving examples.
Example: Dr. Robin’s study illustrates the need for more research on the effects of this experimental drug.
Implies
Definition: to communicate an idea or feeling without saying it directly.
Example: The study implies that there are many outside factors (other than diet and exercise) which determine a person’s tendency to gain weight.
Incorporates
Definition: to include something as part of something larger.
Example: Dr. Smith incorporates research findings from 15 other studies in her well-researched paper.
Indicates
Definition: to show, point, or make clear in another way.
Example: Overall, the study indicates that there is no real danger (other than a lack of sleep) to drinking three cups of coffee per day.
Infers
Definition: to form an opinion or guess that something is true because of the information that you have.
Example: From this study about a new medicine, we can infer that it will work similarly to other drugs that are currently being sold.
Informs
Definition: to tell someone about particular facts.
Example: Dr. Smith informs the reader that there are some issues with this study: the oddly rainy weather in 2017 made it difficult for them to record the movements of the birds they were studying.
Insinuates
Definition: to suggest, without being direct, that something unpleasant is true.
Example: In addition to the reported conclusions, the study insinuates that there are many hidden dangers to driving while texting.
Integrates
Definition: to combine two or more things in order to become more effective.
Example: The study about the popularity of social media integrates Facebook and Instagram hashtag use.
Lacks
Definition: to not have or not have enough of something that is needed or wanted.
Example: What the study lacks, I believe, is a clear outline of the future research that is needed.
Legitimizes
Definition: to make something legal or acceptable.
Example: Although the study legitimizes the existence of global warming, some will continue to think it is a hoax.
Magnifies
Definition: to make a problem bigger or more important.
Example: In conclusion, the scientists determined that the new pharmaceutical actually magnifies some of the symptoms of anxiety.
Models
Definition: something that a copy can be based on because it is an extremely good example of its type.
Example: The study models a similar one from 1973, which needed to be redone with modern equipment.
Negates
Definition: to cause something to have no effect.
Example: This negates previous findings that say that sulphur in wine gives people headaches.
Neglects
Definition: to not give enough care or attention to people or things that are your responsibility.
Example: The study neglects to mention another study in 2015 that had very different findings.
Obscures
Definition: to make something difficult to discover and understand.
Example: The problems with the equipment obscures the study.
Outlines
Definition: a description of the main facts about something.
Example: Before describing the research methods, the researchers outline the need for a study on the effects of anti-anxiety medication on children.
Overlooks
Definition: to fail to notice or consider something or someone.
Example: I personally feel that the study overlooks something very important: the participants might have answered some of the questions incorrectly.
Parallels
Definition: to happen at the same time as something else, or be similar or equal to something else.
Example: Although the study parallels the procedures of a 2010 study, it has very different findings.
Converse International School of Languages offers an English for Academic Purposes course for students interested in improving their academic English skills. Students may take this course, which is offered in the afternoon for 12 weeks, at both CISL San Diego and CISL San Francisco. EAP course graduates can go on to CISL’s Academic Year Abroad program, where students attend one semester at a California Community College. Through CISL’s University Pathway program, EAP graduates may also attend college or university at one of CISL’s Pathway Partners. See the list of 25+ partners on the CISL website. Contact CISL for more information.