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Have you ever heard of what psychologists call
“distancing language”? The theory of “distancing language”, does
just that. It creates a distance between the subject and the
situation.
Distance language is phrasing used by the people – and overused
by the media – to "distance" themselves from a statement,
either to avoid thinking about the subject or to distance
themselves from its content.
People use many techniques to "distance" themselves from the
truth and this is especially apparent when someone is attempting
to avoid consequences.
IMPORTANT: Distancing language used orally may indicate that a
person is lying. |
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SEEM / APPEAR |
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We often use seem and appear to give information without stating that we
definitely know it is true, and in this way distancing ourselves from the
information.
We can use It seems / appears + that + clause, or subject + seem
/ appear +
infinitive. |
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1. |
It seems / appears (that)
prices are increasing in Argentina. |
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2. |
The new manager
seems / appears to be quite friendly. |
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3. |
There seems to be a mistake with the bill. |
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We use It would seem / appear + that + clause to distance us even further
from the information, and to make it sound less sure. This is more formal
than It seems / appears... |
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4. |
It would seem / appear (that)
my boss Diana Wells had been using the company's assets
to pay off her private debts. |
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5. |
It would seem / appear (that)
our manager has been fooling us all. |
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PASSIVE WITH REPORTING VERBS |
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Another way of distancing ourselves from the facts, especially in formal
written English, is to use the passive form of verbs like say, think, etc.
to introduce them. We can use three structures:
a) It + passive verb + that + clause.
NOTE: Verbs commonly used in this pattern are: agree, announce,
believe, expect,
hope, report, say, suggest, think, and understand. |
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1. |
It is said that
reading books increases the knowledge and logic. |
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2. |
It has been announced by
OM Personal English that their CPE Proficiency course
will be released this year. |
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b) subject + passive verb + to + infinitive.
NOTE: Verbs commonly used in this pattern are believe, expect,
report, say,
think, and understand. |
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3. |
The company director
is expected to resign in the next few days.
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4. |
They
are understood to have been living in Paraguay
since 2005. |
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c) There + passive verb + to + infinitive.
Compare these examples:
It is said that there are more than 800,000 people living in poverty
here.
There are said to be more than 800,000 people living in poverty here. |
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5. |
There
are thought to be over
1,000 species in danger of extinction. |
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6. |
There
are believed to
be eleven million undocumented immigrants in the
United States. |
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MORE DISTANCING: apparently / according to / may
/ might |
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We can use apparently (usually either at the beginning or the end of a
phrase) to mean that we have heard / read something, but that it may not be
true. This is very common in informal conversation. |
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1. |
Apparently,
Marcos and Dianne have separated. |
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We can use according to to specify where information has come from. We use
it to attribute opinions to somebody else (NOT
According to me ...). |
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2. |
According to
the new research, the idea that we have to drink two litres of
water a day is a myth. |
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Using may / might also suggests that something is a possibility, but not
necessarily true. |
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3. |
Dinosaurs
may have died out due to rapid climate change.
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4. |
There
are rumours that this rock band might release a new album. |
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On the next page you will be able to practise
this grammar. |
Pulsa este
ícono
para abrir y
consultar
las
respuestas correctas.
