Back to: ACT English
This category of questions focuses on sentences that repeat information (redundancy) or use too many words to describe something (wordiness). Generally, you are tasked with finding the shortest sentence that is still grammatically correct and does not repeat the same information or details.
| Example | Explanation |
| The alarm buzzed at 5 AM, which meant that Nick had to get up early in the morning to feed the dogs and start his day. |
While this sentence is grammatically correct, it includes redundancy. We know that 5 AM is early in the morning, so only one of these phrases is necessary. To correct redundancy, remove whichever phrase can be eliminated without changing the meaning of the sentence.
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| Any student who likes to engage in watching movies and films and would find it to be fun and enjoyable to take part in a delightful trip in which a group takes a walk together over to the movie theater building and partakes in watching one of the motion pictures available would be more than welcome to join us at the end of the week this coming Saturday. |
This is certainly an over-the-top example of wordiness but it demonstrates a lot of different ways that writing can include unnecessary words. For example, likes to engage in watching movies can be revised to likes watching movies or even likes movies and would find it to be fun and enjoyable could simply be would enjoy. One possible revision of the full sentence is:
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| How Will the Test Try to Trick You? | |
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The ACT will include sentences that are grammatically correct but use redundant phrases or are too wordy. You will need to determine the answer option that offers the best revision to ensure a clear and concise sentence. |
The neighborhood association hosts an annual picnic in the park every year. A. NO CHANGE B. yearly C. each year D. DELETE the underlined portion In this case, since every year means the same thing as annual, it is redundant. The correct answer is D because that is the only option that would remove the redundancy. |
| You might encounter a complicated sentence with too many added phrases, clauses, or details. This can make it difficult to detect redundancy and wordiness. |
Although she was a bit anxious about the exam, being a strong student who got good grades, completed all of her assignments, and kept up with her courses, Anna was confident that she would pass. A. NO CHANGE B. a strong student who studied regularly C. that she was a strong student with good grades and completed her assignments D. DELETE the underlined portion |
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