Since the fall of the Soviet Union, English has become the international language of physics. For most physicists, English is a second language. This has changed the language of physics. We use a reduced set of sentence structures with a heavy emphasis on nouns. This has two great advantages for physics students of all ages:

• the focus on nouns helps students construct a clear mental model of the situation and
• the reduced set of sentence structures and verbs reduces the complexity of the language, reducing cognitive load. 

However, this isn’t everyday English. Students need to be taught how to use this language. This post isn’t about teaching strategies – it’s just a brief description of how physicists use nouns and verbs. 

Nouns

Nouns are powerful in physics because they set the scenario for the reader/listener. A clear and precise situation is the key to effective physics communication. 

When we want to communicate that a situation applies universally, we use a simple noun, like:

• an object
• a body
• a charge
• a mass

At other times, we need to be very specific about the situation. We attach other words to the nouns creating noun phrases:

• the fastest moving particles
• the high energy alpha particles
• a rotating body
• a rotating spherical body…
• the rate of change of momentum

Physicists other great trick is to turn verbs into nouns (nominalisation):

• Refraction (happens at a…)
• Evaporation
• Collision

Once the situation has been established, we can do something with it using verbs.

Verbs

Verbs don’t do as much work in physics writing as nouns, but those we use are powerful. They tend to be borrowed from elsewhere in English and so work as metaphors. For example, electric current tends to use the language of water flowing:

Charge flows round a circuit and splits at a junction. 

Below is a list of verbs commonly used in different physics topics. 

Motion:

• collide
• accelerate
• decelerate
• travel

Forces:

• exert
• balances
• resists (motion)

Electricity:

• flow
• resist
• travel
• builds up (charge)
• conduct

Energy:

• transfer
• absorb
• store

Space:

• orbit
• rotate
• eclipse

Light & Sound:

• reflect
• refract
• absorb
• emit
• travels
• vibrate

Radiation:

• absorb
• emit
• excite
• decay
• fuse

Maths:

• increase
• decrease
• stay constant / the same

Physics Exam Verbs:

• Describe
• Explain
• Calculate
• Determine
• State
• Deduce
• Show that
• Plot
• Sketch

I’m not sure how useful this post has been, but I think it is interesting!

Thank you for reading,

Ben