英文写作应当予以避免的冗余词句

众所周知，不管中文还是英文写作，不管风格华丽还是朴实，好文字都是要言不烦，简洁明了的。初写作者或是无意之间，或有意炫耀，往往平添周折，冗余繁琐，反倒辞不达意。事实上，写作中有一些技巧，可以让你避免最基本的误区和陷阱。

本期将引介一些常见的应当予以避免的冗余词句：

有些人可能会认为花里胡哨的词汇能让你的文章更好看，但实际上更重要的是词语的质量，而不是数量。字数、词汇过多会使写作不清晰，没有耐心的读者会很快放弃。相比之下，更紧凑简洁的写作会使人读完留下更清晰、更难忘的印象。下面分成三类介绍哪些词汇是多余从而可以被删掉或者替代的。

# 不必要的介词 #

有些介词是多余的，因为它们被包含在动词的定义中。写作水平的提高与我们能从其中剔除的不应该存在的词汇数量成正比。比如，"free up "中的 "Up "就不应该出现。下面举一些可以被删掉的介词例子：

原词	替代
beat out	beat
start off	start
match up	match
head up	head
finish up	finish
enter into	enter
exit out of	exit
depart from	depart
permeate through	permeate
escape from	escape
flee from	flee
orbit around	orbit
clean up	clean
shout out	shout
jump up	jump
sit down	sit

# 多余的短语 #

不仅仅介词可被消除，还有一些常见的短语是可以被简化而不影响意思的，如：

原词	替代
as per	per
share the same	share (or have the same)
both agree	agree
laptop computer	laptop
cheaper price	cheaper (or lower price)
on sale for a discounted rate	on sale (or discounted)
debut of a new product	product debut
collide into each other	collide
crammed close together	crammed
insist adamantly	insist
tragically sad	tragic
tall skyscraper	skyscraper
urban city	city
a little bit	a bit (or a little)
small bits	bits
hotter temperature	hotter (or higher temperature)
colder temperature	colder (or lower temperature)
once used to do	did (or used to)
used to at one time	used to
used to in the past	used to
deceptive lie	lie
dark, black sky	black sky
scrutinize very carefully	scrutinize
wander around aimlessly	wander, roam

# 繁琐的词汇 #

冗长的句子会使用许多无用的词，使文章显得杂乱无章。好的写作简单而直接，它使用尽可能简短的词句来表达同样的意思。那么，我们怎么知道一段话是否足够简洁呢？

——可以试着从每个句子中删除单词。一个词是必要的，意味着它：对构成一句话的语法不可或缺；或它构成一个关键的想法、事实、感觉或描述成分。如果你能在保持句子意思不变的情况下删除一些词汇，那这个句子就是繁琐的：

For all intents and purposes, the reason Mr. Henderson arrived late for work was due to the fact that he stopped at very many traffic lights that were red in colour.（31 words）

Mr. Henderson arrived late for work because he stopped at many red lights. （13 words）

繁琐冗长的词汇类型众多，下面举出五个最常见的例子并给出修改意见：

1. 消除多余的内容Eliminate redundancy

redundant	Better
each separate incident	each incident
many different ways	many ways
dash quickly	dash
as to whether	whether
tall skyscraper	tall
blue in colour	blue
free gift	gift
advance notice	notice
he is a man who is	he is
appear to be	appear
completely finished	finished
the reason . . . is because	because

2. 删除空洞的单词和短语Delete empty words and phrases

generally	tend to	really
apparently	in my opinion	very
basically	I think that	various
essentially	I feel	in some ways
virtually	I believe	for all intents and purposes

3. 选择最简洁省力的表达方式Avoid expressions that can be more clearly said in another way

outlaw	rehabilitated
at this point in time	at this time/now
in the neighbourhood of	of about
had an effect upon	influenced
due to the fact that	because
in order to	to
for the purpose of	for
it is important that	must
until such time as	until
at the same time as	while
with the possible exception of	except

4. 删除以下短语和变体：there is . . . that；it is . . . thatDelete the following phrases and variations

There are many students who like reading.	Many students like reading.
It is the desk that is uncomfortable.	The desk is uncomfortable.

5. 避免使用被动语态：被动语态往往比主动语态使用更多的词。Avoid using the passive voice

6. 用不需要介词的动词代替有介词的动词。当你可以写 "discover"时，千万不要写 "find out"。Substitute verbs with prepositions with verbs not needing prepositions

记住，重中之重在于，当一个较短的词就可以完成表达时，要克制住使用更长、更复杂表达方式的冲动。以下有一些需要避免的词组，以及更简洁的替代词：

	Replace with
in terms of	regarding (or recast the  sentence)
when it comes to
as far as [X] is concerned
at the present time	now, currently
as of this writing
at the time of publication
at the current time
at this point in time
has the ability to	can
is able to
is capable of
has the capability to
in the near future	soon (or, better yet, be more specific about when)
not too long from now
the fact that	Delete “the fact”” and/or recast the sentence
despite the fact that	although, even though
the reason why is that	because
be aware of the fact that	note, understand
the fact that it doesn’t have	its lack of, its omission of (or recast  the sentence)
in light of the fact that	considering
less than great	subpar, mediocre, OK
less than spectacular
not very good
comes with it right out of  the box	includes, comes with, is preinstalled, is preloaded
comes equipped with
it’s important to note that	Notably
in the direction of	toward
make a choice	choose, decide
the thing is that	(Nothing; delete these words)
the truth is that