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Ways to avoid using the word 'very'

writerswrite.co.za

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Re: Ways to avoid using the word 'very'

#11

Post by Reebz »

jeremysmyth wrote: post #2

But what if I want to say "very terrified"? As a side note, I was always amused by the number of generic superlatives available in many languages. In English, we've already got "very", and "damn" as the site mentions, along with "really", "extremely", "amazingly" and so on. In British English, you can say "bloody" or "damnedly" or "shockingly" or "terribly" or any of a vast number of other superlatives, not to ignore…

You're then in a grey area of synonyms, it's not always hierarchical. If you're in a race for superlatives, then it's time to get creative. You could try: "paralyzed with terror".

Re: Ways to avoid using the word 'very'

#12

Post by Maciek416 »

This reminds me of an English teacher I had in high school who disallowed us from using a list of banned words in a writing assignment. In previous assignments students had overused them to pad their word count and to inflate the apparent sophistication of their vocabulary. Among these words were "basically" and "essentially" which he told us were garbage words (as far as essay-writing as concerned). It stuck with me.

There seem to be many words which are useful in conversation but for whatever reason are not that good for efficient writing, or so overused in speech (for lack of better words as one scrambles for word choice in real time) that it's hard to avoid using them in writing.

Re: Ways to avoid using the word 'very'

#15

Post by InclinedPlane »

Maciek416 wrote: post #12

This reminds me of an English teacher I had in high school who disallowed us from using a list of banned words in a writing assignment. In previous assignments students had overused them to pad their word count and to inflate the apparent sophistication of their vocabulary. Among these words were "basically" and "essentially" which he told us were garbage words (as far as essay-writing as concerned). It stuck with me…

See also: "really" and "actually". An easy way to improve your writing is to do a quick edit and remove all instances of these no-op words then go back and adjust.

Re: Ways to avoid using the word 'very'

#16

Post by Zikes »

Maciek416 wrote: post #12

This reminds me of an English teacher I had in high school who disallowed us from using a list of banned words in a writing assignment. In previous assignments students had overused them to pad their word count and to inflate the apparent sophistication of their vocabulary. Among these words were "basically" and "essentially" which he told us were garbage words (as far as essay-writing as concerned). It stuck with me…

Also, "of course" and "obviously".

Re: Ways to avoid using the word 'very'

#18

Post by bagosm »

Zikes wrote: post #9

'Very' isn't necessarily a bad modifier, it just shouldn't be used very often.

Tee hee you used it! Really though, I think there is a big difference between "Very tired" and "exhausted".

Although the technical mind I think is bugged more about precision rather than flow or poeticness of speech Ι think we can appreciate it...

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