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Spanish · Vocabulary · B2 to C2

Academic Spanish: the words that structure an essay, a lecture or a paper

An essay, move by move · pick a step
El presente trabajoEste estudioA lo largo de
El presente trabajothe present paperanalizaanalysesel turismothe tourismen Canarias.in Canaries
el preh-SEN-teh trah-BAH-hoh ah-nah-LEE-thah el too-REES-moh en kah-NAH-ryahs · “This paper analyses tourism in the Canary Islands.”Why: el presente trabajo = “this paper”. presente here means “this one”, not “present time”.

Short answer: academic Spanish relies on fixed phrases that signal each move in an argument: En primer lugar (first), Por otra parte (on the other hand), Sin embargo (however), En definitiva (in short). It prefers the impersonal se (se observa que…, “it can be observed that…”) and the first-person plural (analizaremos, “we will analyse”) over “I”. Many academic words are close to English: la hipótesis, el análisis, la metodología. Expressing doubt often needs the subjunctive (the verb form for uncertainty): Es posible que sea…

Writing without “I”

Se observa, cabe señalar, analizaremos

PERSONAL · SPEECHIMPERSONAL · ACADEMIC creo queen mi opiniónanalizaremosse observa quecabe señalar Moving right removes the writer and keeps the focus on the evidence.
Cabe comes from caber (to fit): cabe señalar = “it is worth pointing out”.
Se observais-observedun aumentoan increasedel paro.of-the unemployment
seh obs-EHR-bah oon ow-MEN-toh del PAH-roh · “An increase in unemployment can be seen.”Why: Impersonal se + verb: no subject needed.
Cabefitsseñalarto-point-outque…that
KAH-beh seh-nyah-LAR keh · “It should be noted that…”Why: A fixed academic opener.
Los resultadosthe resultsindicanindicateque…that
lohs rreh-sool-TAH-dohs EEN-dee-kan keh · “The results indicate that…”Why: Let the evidence be the subject.
Comoasse ha mencionado,has-been mentioned……
KOH-moh seh ah men-thyoh-NAH-doh · “As mentioned above, …”Why: se ha + participle: impersonal perfect.
Academic verbs

Plantear, demostrar, abordar

VerbSay itMeaningTypical use
plantearplan-teh-ARto raise, poseplantear una pregunta
abordarah-bor-DARto tackle, addressabordar un problema
demostrardeh-mos-TRARto show, provedemostrar una hipótesis
analizarah-nah-lee-THARto analyseanalizar los datos
destacardes-tah-KARto highlightcabe destacar que
señalarseh-nyah-LARto point outcomo señala García (2020)
sostenersos-teh-NEHRto argue, holdsostiene que…
citarthee-TARto citecitar la fuente
concluirkon-kloo-EERto concludese concluye que
aportarah-por-TARto contributeaportar datos nuevos
Hedging and certainty

Es posible que, parece que, sin duda

sin duda
Sin duda,without doubtesit-isun avance.an advance
seen DOO-dah, es oon ah-BAN-theh · “It is undoubtedly a step forward.”Why: Full certainty: use sparingly in academic writing.
es evidente que
Es evidenteit-is evidentquethathaythere-isun problema.a problem
es eh-bee-DEN-teh keh AY oon proh-BLEH-mah · “There is clearly a problem.”Why: A certainty phrase: followed by the indicative (hay).
parece que
Pareceit-seemsquethatfunciona.it-works
pah-REH-theh keh foon-THYOH-nah · “It seems to work.”Why: parece que + indicative.
es posible que
Es posibleit-is possiblequethatseait-beasí.so
es poh-SEE-bleh keh SEH-ah ah-SEE · “It may be so.”Why: Possibility needs the subjunctive: sea, not es.
no está claro que
No está claronot is clearquethattengait-hasefecto.effect
noh es-TAH KLAH-roh keh TEN-gah eh-FEK-toh · “It is not clear that it has any effect.”Why: Doubt again takes the subjunctive: tenga.
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Related guides

sin embargoConnectors →The full set of linking words.seaSubjunctive →Why es posible que takes sea.se observaPassive and se →Se observa, se analiza.el ensayoAdvanced writing →Essays, reports and style.