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ECONOMY IN WRITING
AVOIDING WORDINESS
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Make every word count when you write. Get right to the main point of an essay.
WORDY: Well, the question I am going to write about raises a lot of problems, and can
easily be debated with many people taking either sides.

Stay on topic. Give your reader all the explanation needed to understand your point, but do
not waste time with information that does not explain it.

Be plain rather than fancy.
FANCY: The students who rioted were exterminated from school.
FANCY: The smells were sweet to his nasal palate.
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Change the sentence structure. Use fewer words.
WORDY: The flavour of coffee tastes delicious to me. (8 words)
BETTER: Coffee tastes delicious to me. (5 words)
GOOD: I enjoy coffee. (3 words)
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Use the active, rather than the passive, voice.
PASSIVE: The student was suspended by the principal. (7 words)
ACTIVE: The principal suspended the student. (5 words)
AVOIDING REPETITION

Do not state a fact more than once.
REPETITION: None of us will ever forget the true meaning of Christmas, and I doubt
that we ever will.

Do not state a fact that can easily be assumed from another fact you have given.
REPETITION: The chair is green in colour.

Avoid repeting words, especially long ones.
REPETITION: Parking permitted by permission only. (5 words)
BETTER: Parking by permission only. (4 words)
REPETITION: The author’s imagination is very imaginative. (6 words)
BETTER: The author is imaginative. (4 words)
Correct each sentence to avoid wordiness or undesirable repetition.
1. Soccer first originated in Europe.
2. Time is a very fasinating phenomenon.
3. My main reason for moving into the dorm was because of financial reasons.
4. If I had to choose between AM and FM programming, I would choose FM
programming. The FM programming is in stereo, whereas AM programming is in
mono, not stereo.
5. Another useful item is the grape crusher, which crushes the grapes.
6. Advancement in nuclear technology is advancing rapidly.
7. At that moment my heart was filled with joy, happiness and a complete satisfaction.
8. It is a true fact that society keeps changing from day to day and so do the people
within it.
9. Overly cautious drivers can be hazardous to themselves and to the impending
participants on the road.
10. A low unemployment rate could still be a rality in the future to come.
11. In size, a submarine is quite vast.
12. The end of my holiday was coming to an end.
13. The birds slowly returned back.
14. My boss was an outstanding athlete in the sports field.
15. I recall one incident that is fixed in my mind.
16. Experts are saying that credit cards wilil be the money of the future. No one will use
cash but will use credit cards instead.
17. The story is very unique.