ipl-logo

Tentative Language Examples

907 Words4 Pages

Tentative language is an important feature when used in sentences for it to not appear factual. When using tentative language, one is being careful and in addition, tentative language offers more flexibility in case one might change their opinion or view later on (Goodale, 1987).
Furthermore, if one wishes to be cautious or careful, one should use tentative language if one does not have facts. This essay will briefly analyze and discuss how tentative language is used in oral communication with the focus on business communication and an interview with US President Donald Trump. When using tentative language, there are three different expressions, modal verbs, limiting words and hedging verbs, also known as polite verbs. For example, “Could …show more content…

The initial question from Julie Pace is not exactly answered as she asks Donald Trump about the policy of his administration for dreamers to stay. Donald Trump avoids answering the question and uses limiting words, as his statement is not factual. As mentioned earlier, probably is an example of limiting word. As a way to change the strength of a verb and indicate a room for doubt, modal verbs can be used (University, 2007). Furthermore, modal verbs show politeness and tentativeness in the English language. Examples of modal verbs are, might, may, could, can or shall (Simon, 2017). Using the same Donald Trump interview as an example, Donald Trump states at one point “I do. I get treated so badly. Yesterday, about the thing, you know when I said it’s a terrorism ... it may be. I said it may be a terrorist attack and MSNBC, I heard, went crazy” (Trump, 2017). Mr. Trump is answering a question about fake media and that FOX (an American television station) is treating Mr. Trump badly in his own opinion. When Mr. Trump uses the word, may, he is using a tentative expression as a way to doubt the strength of the main verb and putting doubt in his previous statement, regarding what he has said about terrorism. He is attempting to transition a fact (it may or may not be true) previous statement …show more content…

Words such as appear, suggest, indicates, seem and think are some of the hedging (UEfAP, N/A).
During the same interview with Donald Trump as the previous examples also are from, Mr. Trump uses hedging verbs:
“……..the Democrat’s don’t seem to have nearly as much…” (Trump, 2017).
The word seem is used by Mr. Trump as he does not appear to have factual knowledge of what the Democrat’s do or do not have. The question Mr. Trump is answering is about a deal between the Tuesday group and the Freedom Caucus and what kind of deal he is looking for. He does not only, not answer the question but he avoids the question and uses the hedging verb to get his point across during the interview. In conclusion, academic writers, politicians and business people use tentative language such as modal verbs, hedging verbs and limiting words. Tentative language is used as a way of being cautious when not having the factual knowledge during one’s way of speech. Examples of this have been given from a Washington Post interview with US president Donald Trump and personal business meeting

Show More
Related

Pt1420 Unit 1 Language Analysis

309 Words | 2 Pages

x = 10 while x ! = 0 : print x x = x - 1 print " we 've counted x down, and it now equals", x print "And the loop has now ended." Boolean Expressions

Read More

Gop Rhetorical Analysis

54 Words | 1 Pages

During a GOP debate Republican Senator,Ted Cruz, attempted to use a diversionary tactic of answering a question,with a question, in order to draw attention from the real issue. In the media this sort of behavior is considered a red herring fallacy which attempts to hide weakness in a argument by not addressing the issue.

Read More

Barris Cruz Rhetorical Analysis

532 Words | 3 Pages

“My purpose is to be president,” Kasich responded. “And those who are wondering about Donald Trump, if I go head to head with him in Ohio, I beat him by 18 points. I intend to go all the way, I intend to be the nominee, and I intend to beat Hillary Clinton by more than 11 points.” Kelly pressed on to question Kasich’s candidacy asking if he stealing votes from candidates that had a better chance of beating Trump. “I’m not sure who those people are but people counted me out, they said you know, he will never get to New Hampshire and we went to New Hampshire and we finished second,” Kasich said.

Read More

Rhetorical Analysis Of Scott Sawyer's Argument Against Racism

734 Words | 3 Pages

he poses in a rhetorical question linked to the previous quote, manipulating readers to agree as they assume the answer is

Read More

A Rhetorical Analysis Of Susie O Brien

1089 Words | 5 Pages

In using casual language, the writer makes the reader feel more comfortable, as if they were talking to a friend. Thus, this blatant use of persuasion assures readers of their stance and perhaps may prompt one who previously felt differently to change their viewpoint. This can be acutely alarming and will be discussed further in the immediate future. A highly controversial

Read More

Donald Trump's Already Won By William Harwood

591 Words | 3 Pages

The author claims that "one thing is certain: Mr. Trump cannot lose. Because he's already won. " He uses language such as "foolish" to describe those who expect Trump to lose. He goes even as far as to swear on several occasions throughout the piece, showcasing his emotional attachment to the topic in question.

Read More

Examples Of Lying In The Crucible

887 Words | 4 Pages

Abby does not want people thinking ill of her nor does she want to get in trouble so the obvious answer to her is to distract everyone and have them look away from her. While they are all focusing on a “lesser’ person they begin to forget about what she is being accused of. While blaming innocent people, she, herself, is being freed. Getting the help of others to be included in lies help fuel the doubt in others because there is an alibi. Talking to the troop girls that were at Dabney 2 the scene with her, Abby tells them “We danced and Tituba conjured Ruth Putnam's dead sisters.

Read More

How Does John F Kennedy Use Language In his Inaugural Address

375 Words | 2 Pages

In 1961, John F. Kennedy took the oath in office to become the nation's 35th president which made him the first Roman Catholic president. Along with taking the oath in office, he made a speech that still to this day has made an impact on our lives. He sought to inspire our nation. With the respectful eloquence John F. Kennedy(JFK) uses in his inaugural address he makes it his own applying emotion and power to his speech.

Read More

The Use Of Epidemic In Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point

1083 Words | 5 Pages

They are straightforward and on the surface. It’s just that they are incredibly subtle” (Gladwell, 79). The key to persuasion is nonverbal cues. People are persuaded more by

Read More

Language Sample Analysis Sample

1870 Words | 8 Pages

A language sample analysis (LSA) is a tool that generates the coding and transcriptions of a language sample to document the language used every day in various speaking situations (Miller, Andriacchi, & Nockerts, 2016). Language samples are typically 50-100 words in length and are voice-recorded and then transcribed by the clinician. Language samples are done using spontaneous speech, such as typical conversation, or narrative contexts, such as story or event recalls (Miller, Andriacchi, & Nockerts, 2016). The speech-language pathologist (SLP) will take the recording and write out, in the exact words of the child and clinician, every utterance (Bowen, 2011). The SLP will then "code" the sample.

Read More

Leonard Pitts Rhetorical Analysis

1203 Words | 5 Pages

This informality style of writing lifts the stress of the reader as if it’s a regular conversation. Another illustration of colloquial language is found in Torture Might

Read More

Rhetorical Analysis Of Bill Bysson's How You Became You

1224 Words | 5 Pages

The tone is informal yet is not lacking authority. On the contrary, the tone actually gives more credibility to

Read More

Bakhtin Analysis

859 Words | 4 Pages

In his essay Bakhtin provides an analysis of the relationship between individual utterances and the ideologically charged forces that affect them, he writes: “The dialogic interaction of a word among other words (of all kinds and degrees of otherness) creates new and significant artistic potential in discourse, creates the potential for a distinctive art of prose, which has found its fullest and deepest expression in the novel.” (275) i.e. there are dialogic relations between the narrator and the writer, the author and the character, the story and other stories, culture and text and society and text. A novel is in fact characterized by heteroglossiawhere many voices (writer, character, society) are mixed which gives originality to the text.

Read More

Old English Characteristics

1329 Words | 6 Pages

The inflection of verb is less elaborated but there are

Read More

Importance Of Formality In Academic Writing

1187 Words | 5 Pages

In the use of colloquial language, writers will try to connect with their readers. However, the latter does not end in narrowing the gap between conversation and academic

Read More

More about Tentative Language Examples

Related Topics

Open Document