 Hello everyone, this is Mr. P. On today's lesson, we're going to take a look at eliminating wordiness. Yes! So let's get started. So in today's agenda, we are going to look at spotting wordy phrases, recognizing empty words and phrases, spotting redundancy, avoiding expletive constructions, shortening clauses and phrases, and combining sentences. So last video, we took a look at identifying wordiness. So as I said, we are going to take a look at eliminating wordiness. And the first step would be spotting wordy phrases. So replace wordy phrases with appropriate one word alternatives to make your sentence more concise. So for example, we have a wordy sentence due to the fact that I have at this point in time driven my car more than 3000 miles, I should in the not too distant future schedule an appointment for the purpose of changing the oil. So that's too wordy, right? So I highlighted the parts that we are going to replace. So it's going to be easier for you to identify them. So the concise version would be because replacing due to the fact that I have now, at this point would be replaced by now, I have now driven my car more than 3000 miles, I should schedule an oil change soon. So you can see that I replaced in the not too distant future with soon. We don't need to replace anything for the purpose. We actually don't need that phrase in that sense. So list of concise alternatives. So we have wordy phrases like at this point in time, we can replace it like I showed you in my example with now. In this day and age, we can even replace it with nowadays today. At this point in time, then in the not too distant future would be soon, at all times, always until such time as until is necessary that must is able to can due to the fact that for the reason that because in the event that, if in order to to. Obviously, why would you write all those words if we have one alternative? There's no need. The next one is recognizing empty words and phrases. So some phrases are empty or meaningless in that they provide little or no information. Examples include the fact is the process of and to all intents and purposes. Cutting empty phrases strengthens your writing. So we have three examples here. We had just begun the process of setting up our tent when the storm hit. Actually, we don't need the process of. So we cross it out. Another example could be Ontario farmers need more financial support from the government. Well, financial support is replaced by money here. We don't need to write two words. We have a word for that for financial support. That is money. So why not write it? The next example would be denial is to all intents and purposes, the longest river in the world. Well, actually, do we need to write to all intents and purposes? Just erase that part, right? So denial is the longest river in the world. You can often rephrase sentences to eliminate words like manner, nature, character, way, type or kind. So like in these two examples, the mayor reacted in a decisive manner. Decisive manner, that means decisively, right? Why have three words here? Or four, I'm sorry. Four words, so decisively. The job is the kind that requires a person with an honest character who can communicate in a candid way. Oh, wow. It's a lot there. So the job requires honesty and candor. That's it. That's all you need. People try to eliminate unnecessary words in your writing. Be alert for opportunities to replace long descriptive phrases with brief, more vivid synonyms. We have two examples here, and it follows the candidate did not give a straight answer when asked about a two-tiered healthcare system. Well, the candidate waffled, right? So why say did not give a straight answer? Waffled, we have a verb for that. And then the rest, we can just write it when asked about a two-tiered healthcare system. So for the next one, the detective saw no evidence to suggest that death was not from natural causes. So to suggest that death was not from natural causes. Why just write the word that all those words mean? Yeah, of homicide. So the detective saw no evidence of homicide. That's it, as simple as that. Now, spotting redundancy. Words are redundant when they needlessly repeat information. For example, she's writing a fictional historical novel set in the past about Abigail Becker and life in Upper Canada. A historical novel is a work of fiction set in the past. So if I write something like this, fictional historical novel, well, I don't need fictional. If I say historical novel, that is included, right? Fictional. And then set in the past, well, if a historical is obviously set in the past, it cannot be set in the future, right? So then we don't need set in the past. So sometimes modifiers vary rather than really an intensifier such as incredibly, absolutely, and definitely do not add meaning to a sentence, but are simply redundant. So for example, the ending definitely shocked us very much. Oh my God, that's too much. So we don't need to write definitely very much either because shocked is already very much, right? So definitely not needed there is redundant. The following is a list of commonplace redundancies. So we have biography of the life. If it's a biography is obviously of life, right? Join together, for example, is redundant. Blue in color, redundant, mixed together, redundant. Close proximity, wow, very redundant. Past history, cooperate together, refer back. Fue in number, repeat again, final result, small in size. First and foremost, square, round, triangular in shape, full and complete, underlying foundation. So they are obviously redundancies. Avoiding expletive constructions. So expletive constructions are those that start with the word it or there, followed by a form of the verb be. So for example, we have a wordy sentence. There were millions of people who donated generously to help victims of Hurricane Katrina. Well, concise, we can say millions of people donated generously to help victims of Hurricane Katrina. It sounds much better, right? Of course. So we have examples of using strong verbs. The stylistic similarities between this lime tree bower and tintern abbey are an indication that Coleridge had an influence on Woodsworth. So if we make it into a concise kind of sentence, the stylistic similarities between this lime tree bower and tintern abbey indicate, so you can see there, we use indicate, we have a verb indicate, why not use it, right? That Coleridge influenced Woodsworth. So again, we have the verb to influence. So why not use it, right? Instead of using a noun, use a verb if it has its verb. Shortening clauses and phrases. So for conciseness and clarity, look for opportunities to simplify sentences by modifying clauses into phrases. For example, the film Dirty Pretty Things, which was directed by Stephen Frears, portrays the struggles of illegal immigrants in London. Also, look for opportunities to reduce phrases to single words. So look at this concise sentence, the same sentence above, rewritten. Stephen Frears' film Dirty Pretty Things, and you can see where I got all the information, portrays, right? We use the same verb, portrays the struggles of illegal immigrants in London. So we erased a lot of words from the first example and we make it into a simpler, more natural sentence. Number six, combining sentences. Sometimes you can combine several short, repetitive sentences into a single, more concise sentence, like for example, Little Red Riding Hood across the river. After that, she walked through the woods. Finally, she arrived at her grandmother's house. So let's rewrite that sentence in a more natural way. So Little Red Riding Hood went over the river and through the woods to her grandmother's house. You can see there, I combine three sentences into just one. Okay? Yes, it needs time to learn how to do this, but I think you can do it, okay? With practice, obviously we can all do it. Over to you. Yes, that's right. So now let's practice. Now I'm going to give you four sentences, pause the video and you're going to make them more concise and more clear. And yes, you can combine sentences if you like to, okay? So pause the video and I will give you the key. Now that you're back, let's look at the key. Bradley Hall is usually filled with students who do not study the building as a structure. Number two, he dropped out of school to support his family. Number three, the bus company will probably announce its schedule during the next few days. And number four, any student who wants to meet foreign students can do so in many ways. That's it for today. Now, if you haven't subscribed to my channel, please do. If you liked the lesson, hit on the like button, please. And obviously if you have time and you would like to help me, help me out here, share the mini lesson, okay? So until next time, take care everybody, bye-bye.