Chapter 1
CHAPTER 1: READING FOR MEANING
Course: Ged Test Prep
Subject: English Languages Art Rla
Chapter: Chapter 3 Grammar And Language Usage
Eliminating wordiness
For a sentence to flow well, avoid unnecessary words. Sentences should be concise and direct for clarity purposes. Here are tips for reducing wordiness.
- Remove intensifiers
Intensifiers such as so, very, many, quite, really, and definitely are unnecessary. If they add no significance to the sentence, they can be removed.
For example:
He shouted extremely loudly to make sure everyone heard him.
In this sentence, extremely is unnecessary because loudly already conveys a high level of volume. A revised version could be:
He shouted loudly to make sure everyone heard him.
Use active voice
Passive voice constructions can often lead to wordy and awkward sentences. Try to rephrase passive constructions into active voice to make your sentences more direct and clear.