Unnecessary Nouns and Verbs
“Here are a few examples (‘A’) with suggested revisions (‘B’) and comments in brackets.
A: there have been good harvests in agriculture
B: there have been good harvests
[‘Harvests’ implies agriculture: there are no harvests in industry.]
A: we should adopt a series of measures to ensure that…
B: we should adopt measures to ensure that…
[Here the plural form of ‘measures’ covers the sense of a ‘series’.]
Other unnecessary nouns (or gerunds) may be less easy to identify. Nevertheless, a little thought will reveal that they add nothing to the meaning of the sentence. When they are deleted the sense is not diminished, only clarified. Some examples:
A: following the realization of mechanization and electrification of agriculture
B: following the mechanization and electrification of agriculture
A: the key to the solution lies in the curtailment of expenditure
B: the solution is to curtail (or: cut back on) expenditure
[‘Key’ is sometimes useful, but usually it too can be dispensed with. And it often leads to further unnecessary complications (here, ‘lies in’).]
Most unnecessary verbs in Chinglish occur in phrases. The basic pattern is unnec. verb + noun. Both translators and polishers tend to overlook constructions of this sort, because they are grammatically correct and because — precisely — everyone is so accustomed to them.
A: it’s impossible for us to accomplish the transformation of the whole society overnight
B: it’s impossible for us to transform the whole society overnight
The verb most frequently found in these combinations with nouns is to make:
to make an investigation of = to investigate
to make a careful study of = to study carefully
to make a proposal that = to propose that
But many others can be seen on every page as well:
to give guidance to = to guide
to provide assistance to = to assist
to engage in free discussion of = to discuss (it) freely
to achieve success in = to succeed in
to bring about an improvement in = to improve
to place stress on = to stress
to exercise control over = to control
Overworked Introductory Verb Phrases
A: it is especially necessary to make great efforts to assimilate the achievements of other cultures
B: it is especially necessary to assimilate the achievements of other cultures
[What is especially necessary is to assimilate. It is obvious that this process is going to take effort, so we don’t have to say so.]
Variants: make every effort to, try our best to, do our utmost to, do everything possible to (also, plain verbs: strive to, endeavor to, work hard to), etc.
A: the principal task at present is to do a good job in disseminating and applying the results of scientific and technological research
B: the principal task at present is to disseminate and apply the results of scientific and technological research
[Logically, the task is not to do a good job but to disseminate and apply. It can be taken granted that people should try to do it well.]
Variants: make a success of, achieve success in, do successful work in (also, verb+ adjective: be good at), etc.
In these examples the phrases “make great efforts to”, “do a good job in” are used indiscriminately, without logical necessity. And because they are not needed, they only clutter up the sentence and obscure its point. For that reason alone they should be eliminated.
A: departments of scientific research should take steps to make a proper readjustment of…
B: departments of scientific research should readjust…
[-“Take steps to” is another empty introductory phrase.
-“Make a readjustment” = “readjust” (pattern: unnec. verb + noun).
-“It goes without saying that the readjustment should be “proper”.]
A: plunging yourselves into practical work is very important for you to find solutions to all sorts of problems
B: if you want to solve problems, it is important for you to plunge into practical work
[- “To find solutions to” = “to solve” (pattern: unnec. verb + noun).
- Like “a series of”, “all sorts of” “various kinds of” etc. are often redundant with a plural noun.
- (“Very” was removed because it only weakens the force of “important”)]