Identify redundant words and phrases 1

Grammar review A redundant word or phrase says something that's already implied by another word right next to it. It doesn't add meaning, it just repeats it.

“Past history” is redundant because history is, by definition, about the past. “Final completion” is redundant because completion already means something is finished. “Advanced forward” is redundant because to advance already means to move forward.

Cutting these words doesn't change what the sentence means, it just makes the writing tighter and easier to read. In this exercise, your job is to find the one word that could be deleted without losing any meaning.

✓ Useful for IELTS ✓ Useful for Cambridge B2/C1

Identify the redundant word or phrase in each sentence.
Example: The unexpected surprise caught everyone off guard.

1. If you look into the past history of the institution, you'll see that there have been cases like this before. ✓

2. The final completion of the project is scheduled for the beginning of next month. ✓

3. He advanced forward by about three feet before they saw him. ✓

4. He attached the parts together, but the device still wouldn't work. ✓

5. His house is a bit big in size for just one person. ✓

6. The relentless investigators started to look into the surrounding circumstances of the case. ✓

7. Yeah, well, that's just your personal opinion. ✓

8. The measure passed by a completely unanimous vote. ✓

9. We got back home at 4:00 PM in the afternoon. ✓

10. These new innovations were welcomed by the scientific community. ✓

11. They postponed the game until later. ✓

12. The rebels managed to surround the government troops on all sides. ✓

13. He was good at carpentry because he never lost track of the basic essentials. ✓

14. Right after sunrise, we descended down into the valley. ✓

15. The jobs, however, were few in number. ✓

16. My mother will wear anything, as long as it's pink in color. ✓

17. The software was an added bonus. ✓

18. She ended up buying the blue shoes, as they were cheaper in cost than the brown ones. ✓

19. They managed to climb up to the top of the mountain by sunset. ✓

20. Remember that this job should be your first priority. ✓

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WANT TO WRITE BETTER IN ENGLISH? TRY THESE EXERCISES:
Avoiding double negatives 1
Verb tense consistency 1
Verb tense consistency 2
Identifying dangling modifiers 1
Misplaced modifiers 1
Comma splices 1
CAUSATIVE FORM (Mixed) 1 (I)
CAUSATIVE FORM (Mixed) 2 (A)