English for Academic Research: Writing Exercises by Adrian Wallwork

Author:Adrian Wallwork
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Springer US, Boston, MA

5.18 unnecessary use of we and one: 1

Read the following pairs of sentences. Decide (1) in which cases there is a difference in meaning, (2) whether you prefer theasentences (which all contain we or one) or thebsentences (which do not contain we or one).

(1a) Another interesting proposal was put forward by Southern et al. [2016]. In their proposal we have a set of rules that …

(1b) Another interesting proposal was put forward by Southern et al. [2016]. This proposal consists of a set of rules that …

(2a) Finally, we have that x  =  y.

(2b) Finally, x  =  y.

(3a) We present a complete transform theory in Appendix 1.

(3b) A complete transform theory is given in Appendix 1.

(4a) Unlike Southern et al., we define the cost as being …

(4b) Unlike Southern et al., the cost is defined as being …

(5a) We may write this in the following form:

(5b) This can be written in the following form:

(6a) We close this chapter with a summary of x, y, and z.

(6b) A summary of x, y, and z follows.

(7a) One of the advantages of PCA analysis is that it enables one to classify new samples quickly.

(7b) With PCA analysis new samples can be classified quickly.

The (a) sentences, i.e., those sentences that use the personal pronoun (we or one) are all correct English, but if much of the paper is written in this style it can become very heavy for the reader. So where we refers to both the author and the reader, as in the majority of the cases in the exercise, it is better replaced with another construction. An exception is 4. In 4 the authors are making their own definition. Therefore 4b is wrong as it seems that the definition refers to what has already been established in the literature.

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