Use Hedge Words Sparingly

Make clear statements when possible

Hedge words are adjectives, adverbs and verbs used when you want to be cautious. They can be useful, but excessive use of them sounds too timid. Make clear statements by limiting use of the following hedge words:

Appear Could Indicate
Likely Many May
Most Often Perhaps
Potentially Possibly Seem
Some Suggest Usually
Table 1: Common and overused hedge words.

1 Our approach may possibly be useful in the field of stem cell research.

2 A possible use of our approach is in the field of stem cell research.

3 It appears that subtitles may not only cause a potential cognitive overload, but they may also lead to split-attention effect.

4 Subtitles appear to not only cause a cognitive overload, but also a split-attention effect.