Concision


If you can say it in five words, why use ten? To improve sentence style, eliminate wordiness. Indirect and mixed sentence constructions, redundancies, unintentional or unnecessary repetition, and wordy phrases can all lead to wordy sentences. Practice reducing the number of words in a sentence without changing its meaning.


Indirect Constructions


Indirect constructions occur when a writer overuses the verb ‘to be.’ Use stronger verbs to make these sentences more concise.


Examples: There are many nutritionists who claim intermittent fasting works. John’s family was involved in planning his surprise birthday party.


Concise Alternatives: Many nutritionists claim intermittent fasting works. John’s family planned his surprise birthday party.


Mixed Constructions


Mixed constructions occur when two or more types of sentence constructions collide in a sentence.


Example: The reason we did not go to the party last night was because it rained.


“The reason was” and “because” are two different sentence constructions with the same meaning and should not be used together.


NOTE: “The reason was” is grammatically correct, but it also creates a wordy sentence. We can simply use “because.”


Concise Alternatives: We did not go to the part last night because it rained. It rained last night, so we did not go to the party.


101


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