FORBIDDEN
USAGE
DO NOT USE THESE WORDS AND
CONSTRUCTIONS IN ESSAYS
Forbidden usages will
be circled and will affect your grade.
- In
the world today, in today’s world, in today’s society (as opposed to
the sixteenth century?)
- In
my paper I am going to discuss, this paper will show (Just
state the point; the reader knows it is “you” and “your” paper.)
- thing
(ambiguous; Larson’s cartoon inscription is cautiously, yet humorously
instructive: “Well, actually, Doreen, I rather resent being called a
‘swamp thing.’ I prefer the term ‘wetlands-challenged mutant.’”)
- go,
going, gone (weak verb) (Be precise. Doreen traveled, drove, walked,
or attended.)
- got,
get, getting (weak verb) (Doreen received, bought, or found.)
- come,
came, coming (weak verb) (Doreen arrived, entered, grew.)
- went
(weak verb) (See go, going gone) (Doreen left, sauntered, waltzed.)
- put,
putting (weak verb) (Doreen placed, sat, positioned.)
- alot
(misspelled) or a lot (Use “many” for multiple items or “much” for
quantities.)
- overreliance
on passive starts (there is, there are, there was, there were)
(Reconstruct with a concrete subject and an active verb; in the top ten of
every stylist’s rules: “Use active not passive voice.”)
- any
construct using this pattern: “The reason…is/was because” (a truly
wretched construction; even more repulsive: “due to the fact that…”)
- any
cliché/hackneyed metaphor (They will multiply like rabbits.)
- needlessly
using “then” in “If…then” statements
- needlessly
starting sentences with “then” or “also”
- contractions
(more informal than formal) (By the way, “cannot” is the correct
spelling for can’t.)
- first
person (narratives) (Most writers are expert with “I”; third person
needs more practice.)
- first
person preferred point of view, using “I” in every sentence is unnecessary
(See ”I am going to discuss” above.)
- second
person “you” (The declaration is usually misused and is unnecessary.)
- the
ambiguous “it” or “this” (Don’t use “it” or “this” if the referent is
imprecise or if a more precise word exists.)
