8 types of stop words, which must be avoided
Work And Study / / December 25, 2019
Manager in the office, a clerk in a bank, a teacher at school - all that ever wrote. His text of these people affect the world no less than writers and journalists. Maxim Ilyahov and Lyudmila Sarychev in his book, "Write, reduces" share the recipe create a strong text with everyone who writes on paper.
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Maxim Ilyahov
Editor, founder of the service checks the text "Glavred", author of "Mailing lists Glavred".
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Lyudmila Sarychev
Chief editor of "Modulbanka", co-author of "Mailing lists Glavred".
The text should be simple, that is expressed as simply not at the expense of meaning.
poorly | Good |
The main problem of the hosts - in an effort to give all the vital dog a prescription without any variations. Uniformity creates a strong and potentially dangerous imbalance: lack of the formation of some vital substances and excess of some others. | Do not feed your dog the same food - even taking into account all the necessary nutrients. The monotony begins imbalance: some substances becomes too much, the other - a little. Therefore, food should diversify. |
The second text is read much easier, is not it? However, no important thought when editing is not lost.
Simple - does not mean primitive. The text can be a complex idea can be used to enter complex terms and concepts. But there is no situation where the same idea should express more difficult, not easier.
Simplification - this is not a blind cutting parts of the text. First we need to learn how to find and remove the text from the stop words. Stop words - these are words and phrases that are deleted without loss of meaning. If you remove them, the text will not be interesting or richer. He just becomes clearer.
For convenience, the authors divide the stop words into eight stable groups.
1. introductory design
Introductory design - the most simple group of stop words. They are easy to find in the text, it is also quite easy to get rid of them.
Phrases from the category of "common knowledge" and "no secret" - it's a trap. If that's the way it is known, then there is no need to write about it.
poorly | Good |
As it is known, proper nutrition consists of first, second and dessert. But new research has shown that it is not so ... | As a child, the parents fed me dinner of three dishes. They said it was a proper diet. But new research ... |
Great if you bring in the text examples. But from the word "example" is almost always necessary to get rid of.
poorly | Good |
Here you come to the store. For example, for bread. | You came to the store for bread. |
The word "way" can also be classified as waste. If something had to do by the way, you do not have to specifically allocate.
poorly | Good |
At night, it is better not to eat anything fatty and high-calorie. By the way, in our yogurt just half kilocalories. | In our half yogurt calories, so it can be to eat at night. |
2. evaluation
The most robust assessment - one that you give yourself on the basis of their own experience. Suppose we unfamiliar people say, "My friend - a successful businessman and a wealthy man." How do you imagine this friend? Can you compare it with him or make a business proposal? Hardly. Estimates stranger to you - an empty phrase.
"Write, reduces"Own conclusions - the most powerful.
Text with estimates becomes weak, because there is a false sense of the author of the work. To score became convincing, it is necessary to replace or supplement the facts. To do this, the author will have to look into the subject, to study the technical documents and statistics, talk to the manufacturer.
poorly | Good |
Instantly, the computer boots | Thanks to the solid-state hard disk, the computer boots up in three seconds |
Useful treat | Chocolate cereal with fruit filling, vitamins and calcium |
A high percentage, convenient maintenance | 22.3% per annum in rubles; card will deliver home |
3. stamps
Stamp - a popular set phrases, the meaning of which is either unclear or can be expressed in one word.
Stamp | Do not stamp |
Life abounds. | Life rumbles all the valves. Life blooms like a wild hawthorn. |
It found a special kind of dies in the advertising text - corporate stamps. We should get rid of them as well as from estimates - replacing facts and useful information.
Stamp | Do not stamp |
Works of any complexity | We love challenges, but help and simple. We are interested to equip the factory, hangar or storage unit, but we take and for the office, and the rent, and a private school. |
We won the trust of the largest companies in the market | Our systems protect refineries "Gazprom oil" and the central office of the Savings Bank. |
Team of professionals | On projects we assemble a team of industrial engineers who have passed ISO certification and are regularly ... |
"Write, reduces"Win the truth, and not by words.
Authors ads, seeking to maintain a respectful tone, resorting to bureaucratic cliches.
Stamp | Do not stamp |
Dear tenants!!! We would like to inform you that on September 29 from 8:00 to 16:00 will be hot water in the heating system start-up. Please be at this time at home, and to provide access to the apartments plumbers. | Open plumbers September 29 from 8:00 to 16:00. Mosgorteplo preparing a pipe to the top heating. If they do not check out, while heating run in your house pipes can break. |
4. ink-horn term
The simpler words, the easier the reader to perceive the text. If you can write simpler, easier to write.
abstrusely | Just |
Human resources department has demonstrated a positive trend in productivity. | Employees of the department began to work better. |
Do not confuse the terms unintelligible words. If you are sure that the use of a compound word is appropriate, as well as believe in its value, then it should be left.
Abstrusely just | The term of the case |
The dominant theme of the conference - human rights. | Freckles and dimples - dominant genetic traits of man. |
5. euphemisms
Euphemisms - inoffensive synonyms resorted to by incompetent authors when to criticize the work or behavior of other people. The use of euphemisms is not only properly conveys the original information, but also shows disrespect to the other party, narcissism and cowardice at the same time.
Euphemism | That meant |
It's not quite the result we expected. | This poor quality work. |
Authors are advised to talk about the problems honestly, openly and directly. But there are limits beyond which the directness and honesty turn into rudeness. The boundary of this - a person's identity.
"Write, reduces"Criticize the work as possible, and the person - it is impossible.
poorly | tolerantly | Good |
He was blunt. | He made a stupid thing. | Because of his action I found myself in an awkward situation. |
6. verbal word
When the reader is familiar with the text, he draws a picture in my head. If there are too many steps, this dynamic picture, behind which is interesting to watch. To make the text interesting, there must be action.
Most often, the action expressed by the verb. But sometimes the effect of hiding, as if embarrassed. For example, hide it behind a noun.
Noun | Verb |
We are engaged in sales of movies and music. | We sell movies and music. |
Participle verb hide, added to the proposal and make it difficult to read the commas. If for communion hidden verb put verb.
Participle | Verb |
He made a gesture of allowing. | He allowed. |
Verbal participle phrases also complicate the reading of the text.
participle | Verb |
Even as young scientists, they opened the first joint venture. | The first joint venture they discovered when they were both 30. |
7. vague words
We found that interesting for the reader to read the text, which he can imagine, like watching a movie. Vague words give inaccurate information, so they can not be imagined.
poorly | Good |
By the shores of Scotland, towed more than eight oil rigs. | By the shores of Scotland, towed nine oil rigs. |
This example was fairly obvious. But to some undefined stop words, we are so accustomed that we do not notice them.
poorly | Good |
Our system is used by more than 20 000 customers. | We have 20 thousand customers. |
The reader need not know the exact number of customers. He needs an estimated value to a general impression.
Advertisers love to lure customers with promises of low prices, indicating the lower boundary value. Agree, we treat with suspicion to such reports.
poorly | Good |
Refrigerators from 15 000 rubles. | Refrigerators for questioning or a rented apartment for 15 000 rubles. |
8. lies
Lies in the understanding of the authors - a vague wording that technically is not a lie, but not the truth. Lies are used to reinforce weak and does not prove the idea.
False | lies |
We know better than anyone how to care for Sharpey. | Who, if not we know how to take care of the Shar-Pei. |
Such vague wording sounds unconvincing. Often, they do not occur at the request of the author to invent, while the most common lazy. Abstract generalizations can replace facts that the journalist simply do not bother to find.
unconvincingly | Earnestly |
Geneticists have taken the bread out of the police More and more people today are turning to the services of genetics to solve problems that can not afford doctors and police. We can say that genetics is becoming the main way people find and diagnose rare diseases. |
Versailles thief found DNA After five months of searching the police established the identity of "the Versailles of the thief." It appeared to be the brother of the chief of the museum guards. Find the thief succeeded in using genetic analysis of skin particles, which the thief left a cup from which drank during the crime. |
Book Maxim Ilyahova Sarychev and Lyudmila "Write, reduces"Not only teaches rid of verbal garbage, but also tells how to build a structure of the text, and win the favor of the reader. Special attention is given in the book of the advertising text, so copywriters and sales managers is publication can become a kind of bible and professional guide, which can be periodically contact.