sentence. Some expressions to be avoided are: ‘to tell you
the truth’, ‘in fact’, ‘actually’.
Avoid clichés, jargon, tautologies and unnecessary words.Make sure yourphrasesandclausesare in the right order so
there is no confusion:
She put the letter on the desk which had been opened.In the above, ‘which had been opened’ refers to the letter
not the desk so it should follow ‘letter’. The following is the
correct version:
She put the letter, which had been opened, on the desk.Here’s another example:
The knife was very sharp which he used.The correct version is:
The knife, which he used, was very sharp.Aim to develop your own individual style of writing. Read
widely so you can appreciate others’ writing but do not
copy them. Always check your work carefully to make sure
your sentences make sense, are well-constructed and do not
contain any careless mistakes.
IMPROVING YOUR STYLE / 93