Corpus-based study on how women and men differ in their use of adverbial clauses and tag questions

What is it about?

Women and men differ in their use of sentences. Women use causal and purpose clauses far more often than men (e.g. "I state ..., because ..." or "I do ..., in order to ..."). This is explained by a preference for providing downtoners that add motivation or even justification for the the information mentioned in the main clause. By contrast, men are shown to use more concessive clauses (Although sth is generally claimed, I state that ...). An explanation in terms of status is provided.

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