Editing for precision and concision
Remove unnecessary wording while preserving meaning and qualifications.
Before you begin
- Sentence structure
- Active and passive voice
Find the action and the necessary information
Long noun phrases can hide the main action: 'made an assessment of' can often become 'assessed'. Remove repeated ideas and empty framing when they do not serve the purpose. Concision is not simply the fewest words; a slightly longer sentence may be clearer if it names a missing subject or explains a necessary condition.
Protect the meaning while revising
Compare the revised sentence with the original for changes in certainty, time, agent and scope. Deleting 'in this sample' can turn a limited observation into an unjustified general claim. Replace vague pronouns when their reference is unclear, and prefer a precise familiar word over an elaborate expression that adds no information.
Worked example
Revise: 'Due to the fact that the sample was small, it is not possible to make a generalisation to all schools.'
Show the worked solution
- Replace 'due to the fact that' with 'because'.
- Use a direct verb phrase for the limitation.
- Keep the restriction on generalising to all schools.
Because the sample was small, we cannot generalise the result to all schools.
Try it yourself
Which edit preserves 'The scheme may reduce costs in these three schools'?
Common mistakes
- Do not delete qualifications merely to make a sentence shorter.
What can you explain now?
Make 'The committee conducted an evaluation of the proposal' more concise without changing its meaning.
Compare with the explanation
The committee evaluated the proposal.
The verb evaluated carries the action directly, replacing an unnecessary noun phrase while preserving the agent and past tense.
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Original StudyForA content. AI-assisted checks completed; subject-teacher review is still pending. These lessons are not endorsed by an exam board.
Common Core English language arts standards ↗