Hedging in Academic Writing

Level 6

Use esan liteke (it could be said), badirudi ... -(e)la (it seems that) or baliteke ... -tzea (it may be that) to make a claim less absolute: Esan liteke erromantizismoa XVIII. mendearen azkenetan sortu zela.

How It Works

1. Potential forms. The impersonal potential daiteke and its softer hypothetical form liteke are the most common hedges:

2. How things seem. Badirudi takes a -(e)la clause: Badirudi emaitza horiek hipotesia berresten dutela. Dirudienez and emaitzek erakusten dutenez (as the results show) use -(e)nez. See also dirudi and badirudi.

3. Possibility. Baliteke and litekeena da (it may be, it is possible) take a verbal noun -tzea: Baliteke aldaketa hori beste faktore batzuen ondorio izatea. Single words such as ziurrenik (most likely) and agian (perhaps) also work; see agian, beharbada, seguru asko.

4. Limiting phrases.

  • neurri batean (to some extent)
  • oro har (in general)
  • nolabait esateko (so to speak)
  • gure ustez (in our view)

5. Not hearsay. omen reports what other people say. In academic writing, name your source instead.

Tip: One hedge is usually enough. Baliteke agian says the same thing twice.

Examples (6)

  1. Esan liteke erromantizismoa XVIII. mendearen azkenetan sortu zela.

    It could be said that Romanticism arose at the end of the 18th century.

    esan liteke presents the claim as a reasonable view, not a fact.

  2. Badirudi emaitza horiek hipotesia berresten dutela.

    It seems that these results confirm the hypothesis.

    badirudi takes a clause ending in -(e)la.

  3. Baliteke aldaketa hori beste faktore batzuen ondorio izatea.

    This change may be the result of other factors.

    baliteke takes a verbal noun: izatea.

  4. Datu horietatik ondoriozta daiteke metodoak neurri batean funtzionatzen duela.

    From these data it can be concluded that the method works to some extent.

    ondoriozta daiteke uses the verb radical of ondorioztatu.

  5. Oro har, emaitzak onak izan dira, baina lagina txikia da.

    In general, the results have been good, but the sample is small.

  6. Nolabait esateko, hizkuntza bizi baten argazkia da.

    It is, so to speak, a snapshot of a living language.

Common Mistakes

  • Using a finite verb after baliteke.

    Baliteke aldaketa hori beste faktore batzuen ondorio da.
    Baliteke aldaketa hori beste faktore batzuen ondorio izatea.

    baliteke is followed by a verbal noun in -tzea (izatea, etortzea), not by a conjugated verb like da.

  • Leaving out -(e)la after badirudi.

    Badirudi emaitza horiek hipotesia berresten dute.
    Badirudi emaitza horiek hipotesia berresten dutela.

    The clause after badirudi is a that clause, so its verb takes -(e)la: dutela.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Hedging in Academic WritingLevel 6

Learn This First

Academic hedging follows these.

Words in This Pattern

balitekeirudi