From the course: Writing with Flair: How to Become an Exceptional Writer

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Redundant words: Exercises

Redundant words: Exercises

- Okay, where is the redundancy here? As Bob opened his present, he got an unexpected surprise: inside the box was the red shirt he'd always wanted. Well, the surprise by its nature is always unexpected, isn't it? Now how about this one? The project, a joint collaboration between two rival firms, was a huge success. Well, a collaboration is always undertaken jointly, isn't it? Now this one's trickier. Michael's boss summoned Paul to his office to discuss the department's future plans. Well, you always plan for something that's gonna be in the future, so future plans becomes a bit of one of those redundantly twinned words. How about this? Passive sentences harm not only clarity but also simplicity and evocativeness as well. Well, also and as well mean the same thing. And this one: The athlete, born in China, set a new record at the last Olympics. A record, when it's set, is always new. It's only necessary to use the phrase new record if you're distinguishing it from one that was set…

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