![]() ![]() Note, however, that when an expletive is omitted, the first noun to follow-in this case, tendency-is not necessarily the hidden true subject. There is a tendency for companies to hew too closely to the baseline scenarios provided by the agency. If an actor is assigned to the sentence, the statement will be no more concise than before, but it will be stronger: “If this package is worked out with the Senate’s blessing, Congress will likely pass significant regulatory-relief provisions.”ģ. In this example, a subordinate clause precedes the main clause, which begins with the expletive “there will.” The expletive, again, is easily eliminated: “If this package is worked out with the Senate’s blessing, significant regulatory-relief provisions will likely be passed.” The “to be” verb has not been omitted, though, but merely replaces one ( are) at the end of the sentence. Note, however, that expletives don’t occur only at the head of a sentence. If this package is worked out with the Senate’s blessing, there will likely be significant regulatory-relief provisions that are passed. ![]() The example sentence is easily rendered more active and direct by omitting the weak expletive “there are”-thus giving “many factors” its rightful place as the sentence’s subject-and, as a bonus, the attendant but superfluous “that are” and changing the form of the verb: “Many factors at play contribute to this increase.”Ģ. “Overlooking such verbosity is easy to do” is an improvement on the first part of that previous sentence (though no more concise than the original version), but the subject, the gerund overlooking, is still weak the strongest subject is one in which an actor (not a thespian, but a person, place, or thing that performs an action or causes one to occur) appears, as in “Many writers overlook such verbosity.” It is easy to overlook such constructions-I did so just now. One of the most common culprits in verbose sentences is the expletive, an imposter subject consisting of some variation of there and a form of the verb “to be” ( is, are, was, were, “has been” or “have been,” and so on) that masks the sentence’s true subject. There are many factors at play that are contributing to this increase. ![]() (Accomplishing the latter occasionally increases rather than reduces sentence length, but attack the problems in that order.) The following sentences are prime candidates for this treatment discussion and revisions explain the problem and offer solutions.ġ. It’s always wise to review written content with the objectives of reducing the number of words in a sentence and using stronger, more direct syntax. One of the most valuable results of revising one’s writing (or inviting another person to do so) is leaner, more active prose. ![]()
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