Indicator words
There are certain words that indicate a particular element of an argument. These are called Indicator words.
Examples of indicator words are:
- “I think”, “I’d argue”, “I believe”: these indicate a POSITION
- “As”, “Because”: these indicate a PROPOSITION
- “As”, because”, “since”, “in order to”: these indicate a REASON
- “Supported by”, “indicated by”, “the fact that”: these indicate EVIDENCE
N.B. as you’ll see, “As” and “Because” both indicate a “proposition” and a “reason”. These are interchangeable and will depend on the arguer’s preference.
N.B.2 - if you’re interested in indicator words, you’ll also be interested in our series of “pocket argument guides” – which are based on our “argument map” format. They’re fun, and you can buy the series here!
Indicator Words and directional Cues
You also need to keep track of indicator words and directional cues. Indicator words often (but not always) alert the reader to a premise or conclusion.Premise indicators include, for instance, ’since,’ ‘because,’ ‘given that,’ ‘assuming,’ and others.
Conclusion indicators include ‘thus,’ ‘therefore,’ ‘it follows that,’ ‘consequently,’ ‘in conclusion,’ etc.
