The table below lists some of the most common reporting verbs, sorted by frequency in the BAWE (British Academic Written English), a 6.5 million word corpus of written academic English. The frequencies given are total counts for the verbs and corresponding forms.

The list can also be sorted by frequency in the academic section of the BNC Baby, a 1 million word sub-corpus of the BNC (British National Corpus).

NOTE: Verbs in italics also have nouns with the same form, and frequency data will be inaccurate (too high) since it also includes those forms.

Reporting verb	BAWE freq	BNC freq	Usage	Strength	General meaning
show	9860	1205	that/how	strong	show
see	9515	1480		weak	see
state	9264	590	that	neutral	state
find	7578	1233	that	neutral	conclude
study	5566	1105	sth	neutral	examine
suggest	4902	695	that	weak	suggest
consider	4723	714	sth	neutral	think
present	4514	633	sth	neutral	state
develop	4034	488		weak	add
view	3915	663	sth as sth	weak	see
support	3810	476	sth	strong	agree
question	3664	796	sth	weak	disagree
reason	3658	496	that	strong	think
argue	3555	480	that	strong	believe
feel	3065	248	that	neutral	believe
report	2996	462	that	neutral	state
compare	2937	383	sth to sth	neutral	examine
believe	2837	225	that	strong	believe
determine	2752	339		strong	show
describe	2659	669	sth	neutral	state
identify	2643	303	sth	neutral	explain
explain	2629	312	that	neutral	explain
define	2475	354	sth as sth	neutral	explain
claim	2391	379	that	strong	believe
note	2351	402	that	weak	state
hold	2260	509	that	neutral	believe
add	2131	290	that	neutral	state
establish	2104	295	that	neutral	show
discuss	2044	349	sth	neutral	discuss
maintain	1827	136	that	strong	believe
analyse	1821	178	sth	neutral	examine
calculate	1812	166	that	weak	show
object to	1736	120	sth	strong	disagree
prove	1681	187	that	strong	show
assume	1601	402	that	weak	believe
examine	1568	272	sth	neutral	examine
observe	1517	166	that	neutral	see
stress	1514	247	that	strong	emphasise
reflect	1491	219	that	neutral	think
recognise	1479	245	that	neutral	agree
demonstrate	1473	187	that/how	neutral	show
accept	1446	269	that	neutral	agree
mention	1384	142	that	neutral	state
express	1280	264	sth	neutral	state
highlight	1278	53	sth	strong	emphasise
illustrate	1249	198	sth	neutral	explain
challenge	1224	100	sb to do sth	strong	disagree
contrast	1208	211	sth with sth	neutral	examine
propose	1195	161	that	neutral	suggest
conclude	1142	102	that	strong	conclude
contribute	1084	96	to sth	strong	add
imply	1046	173	that	weak	suggest
investigate	940	90	sth	neutral	examine
reveal	938	100	that	strong	show
emphasise	929	139	that	strong	emphasise
agree	929	137	that	strong	agree
assess	895	139	sth	neutral	examine
point out	792	147	that	neutral	state
evaluate	743	113	sth	neutral	examine
discover	735	80	that	neutral	conclude
reject	690	80	sth	strong	disagree
oppose	687	96	sth	strong	disagree
notice	660	99	that	weak	see
confirm	636	80	that	neutral	agree
comment	612	123	that	weak	state
inform	560	57	that	neutral	state
doubt	557	152	sth	neutral	disagree
acknowledge	535	58	that	neutral	agree
outline	519	96	sth	neutral	state
assert	464	50	that	strong	state
deny	457	80	that	strong	disagree
recommend	448	84	that	strong	suggest
criticise	425	56	sb for sth	strong	accuse
admit	396	119	that	weak	agree
advocate	378	42	that	strong	suggest
suppose	370	161	that	weak	guess
counter	360	20		strong	disagree
convince	359	44		strong	persuade
suspect	315	37	that	weak	guess
dispute	287	116	sth	strong	disagree
blame	275	31	sb for sth	strong	accuse
declare	261	47	that	neutral	state
advise	248	24	that	strong	suggest
discount	242	16	sth	strong	disagree
dismiss	240	35	sth	strong	disagree
remark	229	64	that	weak	state
warn	224	31	sb of sth/that	strong	suggest
infer	222	34	that	neutral	conclude
echo	202	15	sth	neutral	agree
accuse	197	26	sb of sth	strong	accuse
contradict	196	8	sth	strong	disagree
clarify	194	28	that	neutral	explain
remind	179	20	that	neutral	state
put forward	174	37	sth	weak	suggest
disagree	167	14	with sb	strong	disagree
persuade	155	40	that	strong	persuade
take into consideration	153	2		weak	include
contend	137	22	that	strong	think
insist	126	29	that	strong	believe
refute	118	5	sth	strong	disagree
articulate	101	44	that	neutral	explain
affirm	95	5	that	strong	suggest
urge	83	15	that	strong	suggest
intimate	79	12	that	weak	suggest
hypothesise	76	6	that	neutral	suggest
theorise	75	35	that	neutral	suggest
disprove	73	4	sth	strong	disagree
posit	71	6	that	neutral	suggest
allege	70	36	that	strong	accuse
endorse	69	19	sth	strong	agree
postulate	69	12	that	neutral	suggest
concede	66	18
concur	59	7	with sb	strong	agree
scrutinise	54	3	sth	strong	examine
speculate	52	8	that	weak	guess
discern	48	11	that	neutral	conclude
stipulate	42	5	that	strong	require
subscribe to	36	4	sth	neutral	believe
disapprove	27	11	of sth	strong	disagree
profess	26	4	that	neutral	believe
inquire	17	8		weak	examine
cast doubt on	16	2	sth	strong	disagree
underscore	13	3	sth	strong	emphasise
query	10	2	sth	weak	disagree

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References

Bailey, S. (2000). Academic Writing. Abingdon: RoutledgeFalmer

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