20 August 1954Skikda University

Research paper for Revising for Economy and Variety

Boughita Mohamed Safire Eddine First year linguistic master degree

Revising for Economy

Economical prose achieves equivalence between the number of words used and the amount of
meaning they convey. So, economy is all about being precise and concise to avoid wordiness in
writing. A sentence is economical not because it is short you cannot remove important details just to
make it short. For example:

A- His defence is not believable: at points it is contradicted by the unanimous testimony of

other witnesses, and it offers no proof that that testimony is false; it ignores significant facts
about which there can be no dispute, or evades them by saying that he does not recollect
them; it contains inconsistencies that he is unable to resolve, even when specifically asked to
do so.
B- His defence is not believable.

The two most used methods to achieve economy are Deleting useless words and phrases and
substituting them by economical expressions.

1- Deleting useless words and phrases:

Example:

A-It seems unnecessary to point out that the purpose of chemistry lab is to give students the kind of
practical experience they need in testing chemical formulas.

2- Substituting an Economical expression for a wordy one:

The forward-looking thinking of those working in the area (contemporary researchers) of coronary
artery disease tends to place a great deal of emphasis on (emphasize) the potential of laser
technology.

Revising for variety

Sentence variety is paragraph's characteristic to transmit the message clearly through: coordination,
subordination and changes in word order.

1- Coordination:
To relate sentences with each other we use coordination conjunctions FANBOYS to show
cause and effect or equal importance of two related ideas, which is translated: For, And, Nor,
But, Or, Yet, So
Example:
 I spent my entire pay check last week. I am staying home this weekend.
I spent my entire pay check last week, so I am staying home this weekend.
2- Subordination:
Joining two related ideas of unequal importance through subordination like though, even
though, unless, …etc
Example:
Makhlouf stopped to help the injured man.He would be late for work.
Even though he would be late for work, Makhlouf stopped to help the injured man.

3- Changes in word order:

By changing word order you keep your readers interested and less bored.
Example:
The sun shone hazily through the low grey clouds.
Through the low grey clouds, the sun shone hazily.

Note:

Take into consideration sentence length and its effects: On the one hand, long sentences Slow down
reading, needed to develop an idea, appropriate for analysis and explanation; on the other hand,
Short sentences, speed up reading, needed as a topic sentence, communicating a series of actions.

Sources:

Trimmer, J. (1995). Writing with a purpose. 11th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, pp.210-215.