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Concision

Pick the shortest choice that still says everything the sentence needs, and nothing it already said.

When to use it

  • The question asks for the “most concise” choice, or one choice is much longer than the rest.
  • The underlined part repeats an idea the sentence already states.
  • A choice is DELETE the underlined portion.

How it works

  1. Say what the underlined words mean in your own few words. Redundant phrases (returned back, past history, each and every) collapse.
  2. Check whether the information is already in the sentence or just before it. If so, DELETE is a strong candidate.
  3. Among the choices that keep the meaning, take the shortest. A shorter choice that drops information is wrong.
  4. Read the winner in the sentence: the grammar and punctuation around it must still work, including the commas.
Watch out: Picking the shortest option automatically. The best choice is the shortest one that keeps the meaning, tone and grammar intact.

Time: English averages about 42 seconds a question. Concision questions are quick: say what it means, strike repeats, choose.

Worked examples

Example 1

A classic redundancy: the verb already means going back.

Which choice is most concise while preserving the information in the passage?

  1. ANO CHANGE
  2. Breturned to the hallwayCorrect
  3. Creturned back to the hallway again
  4. Dwent away from the hallway

Using the technique

  1. “Returned back” says “back” twice, because returned already means came back.

  2. Remove the repeat but keep the destination: returned to the hallway.

  3. The other short choice, went away from the hallway, changes the meaning, and the longer choice repeats “back” and adds “again”.

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Example 2

The underlined phrase repeats what came just before it.

Which choice is most concise while preserving the information supported by the passage?

  1. ANO CHANGE
  2. B, recording the stone’s position,
  3. C, noting the stone’s location,
  4. DDELETE the underlined portionCorrect

Using the technique

  1. The sentence says “I recorded their location,” then the underlined phrase says “writing down where the stone was located.”

  2. The second half repeats the first, so nothing is lost by cutting it. When you delete, take the commas that set it off with it.

  3. “I recorded their location while she replaced it” is complete. The shorter-looking rewrites (B, C) still repeat the idea.

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Example 3

Shortening must not change the meaning: this example shows a short wrong choice.

Which choice is most concise while preserving the information supported by the passage?

  1. ANO CHANGE
  2. Bin a one-meter squareCorrect
  3. Cin a square with a one-meter perimeter
  4. Dwithin a meter of a square

Using the technique

  1. “Within a square that measured one meter on each side” means a square with sides of one meter.

  2. “In a one-meter square” says the same thing in four words.

  3. “In a square with a one-meter perimeter” is also short, but a one-meter perimeter makes sides of 25 centimeters, a different square. Short and wrong.

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Practice Conciseness sets

Related lessons: Conciseness lesson · Word choice · Style and tone