Rip out redundancies - continued
Cutting redundancies is an excellent way to reduce your word count. In the 10 sentences below the redundant words have been bracketed. The reasons why the bracketed words can be deleted are explained.
1) He commuted (back and forth) to the city.
Commuting means travelling back and forth.
2) The president was re-elected (for another term).
Re-election would be for another term.
3)The scientists collaborated (together) on the synchrotron project.
Collaborated means to work with one another.
4) The leaders reached a consensus (of opinion).
Consensus means reaching an agreement.
5) A cacophony (of sound) rose from the building site.
Cacophony means a harsh sound.
6)During (the course) of the conference he fell asleep.
The preposition ‘during’ covers the entire conference.
7) The dollar depreciated (in value) during the global financial crisis.
Depreciation means a decrease in value.
8) Enclosed (herein) is your cheque.
Enclosed means to shut in or to insert in the same envelope. The sentence also sounds formal and old fashioned when it includes 'herein'.
9) The lecture was full (to capacity).
Full means completely filled.
10) Take the (underground) subway.
There is no other place for a subway to be.
For an alphabetical list of more than 200 redundancies, see Richard Nordquist’s Common Redundancies on About.com grammar and composition.
1) He commuted (back and forth) to the city.
Commuting means travelling back and forth.
2) The president was re-elected (for another term).
Re-election would be for another term.
3)The scientists collaborated (together) on the synchrotron project.
Collaborated means to work with one another.
4) The leaders reached a consensus (of opinion).
Consensus means reaching an agreement.
5) A cacophony (of sound) rose from the building site.
Cacophony means a harsh sound.
6)During (the course) of the conference he fell asleep.
The preposition ‘during’ covers the entire conference.
7) The dollar depreciated (in value) during the global financial crisis.
Depreciation means a decrease in value.
8) Enclosed (herein) is your cheque.
Enclosed means to shut in or to insert in the same envelope. The sentence also sounds formal and old fashioned when it includes 'herein'.
9) The lecture was full (to capacity).
Full means completely filled.
10) Take the (underground) subway.
There is no other place for a subway to be.
For an alphabetical list of more than 200 redundancies, see Richard Nordquist’s Common Redundancies on About.com grammar and composition.