作文頻道小編蒐集了英語說明文的寫作方法，希望可以幫助到大家。
1.羅列法(listing)
在文章開始時提出需要說明的東西和觀點，然後常用first，second，…and finally加以羅列說明。羅列法廣泛地使用於各類指導性的說明文之中，下面這篇學生作文就是用羅列法寫成的：
Early Rising
Early rising (早起) is helpful in more than one way. First， it helps to keep us fit (健康)。 We all need fresh air. But air is never so fresh as early in the morning. Besides， we can do good to our health from doing morning exercise (做早操)。
Secondly， early rising helps us in our studies. We learn more quickly in the morning， and find it easier to remember what we learn in the morning.
Thirdly， early rising enables (使能夠) us to plan the work of the day. We cannot work well without a good plan. Just as the plan for the year should be made in the spring， so the plan for the day should be made in the morning.
Fourthly， early rising gives us enough time to get ready for our work， such as to wash our faces and hands and eat our breakfast properly.
Late risers may find it very difficult to form the habit of early rising. They ought to make special efforts to do so. As the English proverb says，“Early to bed and early to rise， makes a man healthy， wealthy and wise.”
羅列法經常用下列句式展開段落，我們可以注意模仿學習：
There are several good reasons why we should learn a foreign language. First of all， …Secondly， …And finally， …
We should try our best to plant more trees for several good reasons First of all， …Secondly， …And finally，
必須指出的是，有時羅列法並不一定有明確的first， second…等詞，但文章還是以羅列論據展開的。
2.舉例法(examples)
舉例法是用具體的例子來說明我們要表達的意思，常用for example， for instance， still another example is…等詞語引出。下面這篇學生作文就是用舉例法寫成的：
Recreation
It is impossible to keep in good health unless we take enough recreation (娛樂)。 The mind， too， needs change to make it fresh and vigorous (有活力的) There is much truth in the old saying， All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.“
There are many games which boys and girls can play after their school work is done， for instance， football， tennis， and kite-flying. Other examples of recreation are boating， fishing， gardening， cycling， walking， chess-playing， and reading. Persons who sit much at their business should take a kind of recreation that will supply their muscles (肌肉) with exercise. Those who spend most of their time in the open air and do manual work (體力活) should adopt (採納) reading or some other quiet form of recreation.
Cycling is said to be an important means of recreation， but many persons foolishly tire out themselves by cycling too much. The same may be said in regard to football. Tennis is a pleasant form of recreation. Many persons take great delight in boating. Fishing requires much patience， and there is much danger of taking cold by sitting still on a cold day too long. A good brisk (輕鬆) walk is one of the finest forms of exercise. For persons engaged in outdoor labor， chess-playing is another excellent form of recreation.
可以看出，舉例法和羅列法有時可以結合使用：即用羅列法來列出例子，用例子充實羅列的說明。
3.比較法(comparison and contrast)
比較法是對兩個對象進行比較，從而進行說明的寫作手法。比較法又可細分爲比較相同點(comparison)和比較不同點(contrast)兩種方法，比如：
From Paragraph to Essay
Although they are different in length (長度)， the paragraph and the essay are quite similar in structure (結構)。 For example， the paragraph starts with either a topic sentence (主題句) or a topic introducer followed by a topic sentence. In the essay， the first paragraph sets up the topic focus (主題所在) Next， the sentences in the body of a paragraph develop the topic sentence. Similarly， the body of an essay consists of a number of paragraphs that discuss and support the ideas given in the introductory (引導的) paragraph. Finally， a concluding sentence (結束句) ——whether a restatement， conclusion， or observation——ends the paragraph. The essay， too， has a concluding paragraph which ends the essay logically and satisfactorily. Although there are some exceptions (例外)， most well written expository (說明文的) paragraphs and essays are similar in structure.
可以看出，在比較相同點的時候，常用到similarly，also，too，in the same case，in spite of the difference等這樣的詞語。
European Football and American Football
Although European football