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Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing

182 Are You Annoyingly Redundant?

Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing

Mignon Fogarty, Inc.

Society & Culture, Education

4.52.9K Ratings

🗓️ 7 April 2009

⏱️ 6 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Are You Annoyingly Redundant?

Transcript

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0:00.0

In today's episode, we're going to look at, examine, and explore redundancies, topologies,

0:11.2

and other superfluous excesses.

0:13.8

We all want to keep our writings as cogent as possible, in part that means excising

0:18.0

needless words, notably redundancies.

0:20.8

There's a particular construction that frequently makes its way into even the best news writing,

0:26.2

as well as in depressed releases and other corporate communications.

0:29.8

Later this week, earlier this year, and the like.

0:32.8

Here's how and why the later and earlier are redundant, consider this sentence.

0:37.3

I'll get back to you later this week.

0:39.8

While it has to be later this week, it's in the future.

0:42.8

Later is implicit.

0:43.8

It's sufficient when discussing an upcoming event to say, I'll get back to you this

0:48.0

week.

0:49.4

The same goes for this sentence, dealing with a past event.

0:52.8

She went to Marrakesh earlier this year.

0:55.6

Let's say she went to Marrakesh this year.

0:57.8

We know it's in the past because it uses the past tense.

1:00.4

She went.

1:01.9

An exception would be when you're striking a contrast between two events and the relative

1:05.8

chronology is important.

1:07.6

Here's an example.

1:09.0

The senator said in June that he supported the railroad project.

...

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