Ch 41 Conciseness Fall25

Front

Conciseness

Back

Clear writing that produces sentences that are direct and to the point.

Front

Wordiness

Back

Padding sentences with words and phrases that increase the word count but contribute no meaning.

Front

Expletive Constructions

Back

Structures using 'it' or 'there' followed by a form of the verb be. Revising these structures generally makes the sentence more concise.

Front

Passive Voice

Back

A structure where the subject receives the action of the verb. Although sometimes appropriate, avoiding the passive voice and using the active voice (where the subject performs the action) is often more direct and powerful.

Front

Unplanned Repetition (41D.1)

Back

Delivering the same message more than once, usually in slightly different words. Eliminating this, which includes redundancy, unnecessarily burdensome readers, and tautologies, is key to conciseness.

Front

Strong Verbs

Back

Action verbs that reduce the number of words required in a sentence. Forms of be and have are considered weak verbs.

Front

Revising Nouns into Verbs (41E)

Back

A technique used to make writing more concise by replacing nouns ending in suffixes like -ance, -ment, and -tion (which are derived from verbs) with the actual verb form.

Front

Eliminating Empty Phrases

Back

Removing phrases that add no real meaning, such as 'in order to' or 'due to the fact that', to make writing more concise.

Front

Combining Sentences

Back

Joining short, related sentences to avoid choppiness and reduce unnecessary repetition, resulting in clearer and more concise writing.

Front

Editing for Redundancy

Back

Identifying and removing words or phrases that repeat the same idea, such as 'absolutely essential' or 'free gift', to streamline sentences.