Teaching page · Grade 3 · Lesson 10

What is special about academic English? — use the words

Two words can both fit a sentence, and one of them fits better.

The words

discover
find out
request
ask for
attempt
try
discuss
talk about
demonstrate
show

Watch how it is built

1discover means about the same as find out.
We discovered that ice floats.
2request means about the same as ask for.
He requested more paper.
3attempt means about the same as try.
She attempted the hard problem.

Two ways to say it

✗ We find outed that ice floats. — this is not wrong, but it is everyday talk.

✓ We discovered that ice floats. — this is how a writer says it.

Ask yourself: “Who is reading this, and does my word suit them?”

Remember

The everyday word is not the lesser word.

49