This error is surprisingly common, even in serious publications. Research has shown that past experience helps us make complex decisions. Including ‘currently’ merely repeats that.Īlternatively, we could say ‘The bridge is currently under repair.’ 5. The present continuous passive structure ‘is being repaired’ tells us that the action is taking place now. The word ‘currently’ is both unnecessary and incorrect here. It is sufficient to write or say ‘I don’t know whether he’s coming.’ 4. This is a similar problem to ‘reason why’. However, ‘why’ is clearly redundant after ‘reason’ when placed at the end of a sentence, as in the above example. Either remove ‘why’, or delete ‘reason’ and write ‘detectives don’t know why’. The number of crimes is increasing but detectives don’t know the reason why.įor some people, ‘the reason why’ is acceptable in the middle of a sentence.
Adding ‘time’ only increases the chance of forgetting to use the apostrophe after ‘years’. The sentence says nothing that ‘He intends to retire in three years’ doesn’t say. ‘Time’ is redundant here and can be deleted.
He intends to retire in three years’ time. In both cases the unnecessary word is redundant and should be deleted.) 1.
When we use a word which simply repeats the meaning of another word, it is called tautology. In this post we will look at some common examples of words which, in certain cases, should be deleted. (Incidentally, the term for using a word which adds no extra meaning to a sentence is pleonasm. While Orwell was referring to clarity in technical and political writing, there are many everyday sentences and phrases which also contain unnecessary words.
Using more words than necessary to express ourselves can make for bad writing and be confusing to the reader. In one of his six rules for writers, George Orwell said: ‘If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.’ Shorter is better, he was saying.
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