Activate “Buried Verbs”

We already saw that reporting verbs (e.g. observed and described) are unnecessary (see (repoverbs?)). Buried verbs are something different. These are verbs (and adjectives) which have been buried in a noun form. A lack of verbs leads to dull writing, so enliven your text by activating these buried verbs!

Instead of … Use …
Analysis of … Analyse
Assessment of … Assess
… is dependent on … depends on
Emergence of … Emerge
Existence of … Exist
Inhibition of … Inhibit
Measurement of … Measure
Table 1: Some common buried verbs and their active verb forms.

Centrifugation was performed and was followed by supernatant elution

The sample was centrifuged and the supernatant eluted

Here, we provide an assessment of the potential toxicological and environmental impacts of glyphosate-resistant crops.

Here, we assess the potential toxicological and environmental impacts of glyphosate-resistant crops.