‘I have a talkative, older sister and a shy, younger brother.’

With a few simple words, I have described in considerable detail my position in the family and the personality of my sister and brother.

However, some adjectives are pretty non-descriptive, and totally over-used too. As a result, these adjectives end up telling us close to nothing. Let’s look at a couple of examples:

‘How was your day?’

‘Good!’

‘What’s your new teacher like?’

‘Nice!’

Now, there is a reason that conversation reminds you of one you might have with a surly teenager because good and nice are words that reveal next to absolutely nothing. How about these nice alternatives:

‘How was your day?’

‘Informative!’

‘What’s your new teacher like?’

‘Open-minded!’

Much better. Just with a simple change in the adjective, you can make the detail you provide so much more revealing and…informative!

Here are five more classically overused (and non-informative) adjectives that could be easily replaced:

Big

The U.S.A. is a big country. Sure it is. But what does big actually mean? It’s certainly vast (nearly 10 million km²), and has a massive population (nearly 330 million), but parts of it are deserted while some of the big cities are teeming with people.

Big just doesn’t do it justice, does it?

So next time you want to say that a 4×4 truck is a big car or basketball players are mostly big men (and women), why not substitute that word for something a little more descriptive under the circumstances. Monster trucks are so much more appealing (although obviously not quite the same), while most star basketball players are towering to say the least. Especially over us mere mortals.

Great

Ironically, the original meaning of great is big, and would actually be a far more interesting word if it was used that way, instead of coming to mean something a little more than good, and in fact, becoming a byword for ‘conversation over’.

‘How was your holiday?’

‘Great!’

Where can the conversation go from there?

‘How are you?’

‘Great!’

Again, it’s a conversation over. Although this word should have a positive connotation, it’s come to mean something that doesn’t quite get there. Why not try something else?

‘How was your holiday?’

‘Restful!’

‘How are you?’

‘Surviving!’

And from there, the conversation can develop.

Old

My phone is old. My grandfather is old. So are dinosaur bones. The earth is old. But so is our galaxy.

Let’s compare some of those numbers.

My phone = 3 years

My grandfather = 83 years

Dinosaur Bones = 68 – 245 million years

The earth = 4.543 billion years

Our galaxy = 13.51 billion years

Yep, definitely deserving of the same adjective. So while my phone is outdated, my grandfather is elderly. Dinosaur bones are prehistoric, while the earth and our galaxy are primordial.

Old? Forget about it!

New

Ha, and then there is the opposite of good-old old, which is just as useless.

Here are some things that can be classified as new:

My phone. Technology. A scientific approach. A theory.

But while my phone is the latest model, it uses cutting-edge technology, and while a scientific approach may be innovative, a theory may be novel, or even original and unique.

You get the point!

Important

When translated from many Latin languages into English, important can mean famous. And then if you think about the word ‘famous’ in English you could be speaking about someone who is infamous, or even notorious. That same person could be renowned or revered.

And as for things, discoveries, news or any other item you care to declare as important, just think a little bit about why it’s important, and then you immediately have an adjective to use to replace a word that is subjective in any case. After all, what is important to you may not be to me, and vice versa.

And there we go. Just a little bit of creativity can go a long way. Become a better communicator, and drop those tired, over-used adjectives.

The post 7 Over-used Adjectives and How to Replace Them appeared first on Linguix Blog.

You may feel a little restricted with the words you can use because of the requirement for simple, plain and inoffensive language. But that doesn’t mean you have to be predictable and, well, dull. 

Without further ado (so), let’s start now by identifying some of the main culprits, and looking at suitable alternatives to make your English writing just that little bit more interesting:

Some

When it comes to quantifying something, some just doesn’t get the job done. Can you be more specific? And that is the point. This type of vague language only succeeds in frustrating the reader, who cannot say, with any great conviction, how many you are actually talking about.

Alternatives: couple, several, dozens, one, two, three, four etc.

Good

This has to be the worst adjective in English. Okay, maybe not quite, but it’s certainly the most overused, and the one that describes the least. Think of a surly teenager who doesn’t want to reveal any information about anything, but at the same time doesn’t want to give the impression that anything is wrong. Good tells us nothing. It is so undescriptive, it is laughable. There’s really no good reason to use it (well-spotted!).

Alternatives: interesting, informative, enjoyable, uplifting, eye-opening (depending on the context).

Great

Great is good’s slightly less annoying, but more excitable big brother. We know that it’s better than good, but it’s also a word that fails to deliver the idea that it really should. No one can get excited about great, even though that is exactly the feeling that great should convey.  But when it comes to attaching a value to something, instead of using a word such as great, which really means nothing, seek to use a word that is more descriptive and explicit, or go for something which makes a valid comparison.

Alternatives: even better than the last time, incredibly rewarding, of magnificent value.

Other

Other is a word that is incredibly practical, so it’s not as annoying as something like good, which really has no value at all. The problem with other is that it just turns up too frequently in writing, so here you just need to think about repetition, and go for something a little different each time.

Alternatives: additional, alternative, further, supplementary.

More

More. This word even sounds dull. But it’s similar to other, both in meaning, and in that it is incredibly practical. Instead just look for those nicer sounding alternatives.

Alternatives: additional, alternative, further, supplementary, extra.

Best

This word is horrible for two reasons. Firstly, because a lot of the time, it just isn’t true. We live in a society now where everything is brilliant or terrible. Everything is either the best or the worst, ever! But it actually isn’t, is it? What you are saying is a massive overstatement. So, avoid using such superlatives when they do not apply. Secondly, it’s all about opinion anyway, so just because it is the best for you, is it really the best for others? Scrap this word! 

Alternatives: the most suitable, the most fitting, the most practical, one of the most…

Important

Everything is important. Or nothing is. It all depends who you are talking to, or what you are talking about. And what is important for one person isn’t important for another (see best). And another thing, important doesn’t mean best in English: this is a false translation from other languages.

Alternatives: crucial, essential, vital.

Like

Like is a word that is shockingly overused in speech, but it is also creeping in more and more to English writing, which is a cause of major frustration to language purists, and those who like language to be clear. Because like just isn’t. Like has multiple meanings, but almost all of them can be better expressed in other ways. Here are some examples:

I like it. = I think it is an interesting proposition.

It was like last time. = It was similar to the previous occasion.

It feels like you have misunderstood… = You have misunderstood…

Does it really feel similar to that? Or is that how it feels? Stop stepping around the issue, and SAY WHAT YOU MEAN!

Alternatives: as above.

A pro tip: Linguix allows you learning new words while writing. The Linguix Grammar Checker and paraphraser (here is our Chrome extension) have a built-in AI-fueled synonyms-selection engine. This feature allows you to see synonyms of English words. Just hold down the Alt button and double-click on a word to see a list of its synonyms. 

The post Overused Words to Replace in Your English Writing appeared first on Linguix Blog.

John is a tall man.

It is a yellow bag.

They are also typically used with stative verbs (non-actions) that express opinions, senses etc. These are known as predicate adjectives. Examples:

I feel tired.

The soup smells delicious.

Adjectives can be identified as any word that helps describe the noun, so that includes numbers, colours and quantifiers. Here are some more simple examples:

There were many people at the concert.

There were three people in the room.

The man was Irish.

He felt cold, so she gave him a warm jumper.

Any comparison words, or superlatives, are also adjectives.

That boat is bigger than that boat.

She’s the best tennis player in the world.

Adjectives can also be used together, usually with the use of a comma, or a suitable conjunction. These are known as coordinate adjectives. Examples:

The man was wearing a long, brown jacket.

The band was playing a popular, hummable tune.

Adjectives consisting of two words are nearly always hyphenated. Examples:

It was an old-fashioned piece of furniture.

Sarah is an easy-going person

But while adjectives help bring detail and precision to what is being described, they should be used intelligently. Common mistakes include:

She had dark, long hair.

The favoured order would be style (long) + colour (dark).

He sings good.

Here the word is modifying a verb, so an adverb should be used. The adverb of good is well.

The cold, wet rain was falling all night long.

Is rain not always wet?

Tommy felt starving, so he knew it was time for lunch.

Starving? Was Tommy not merely hungry? Do not tend towards hyperbole.

Tommy was very starving.

You cannot be very starving. Starving is already an extreme, and can only be modified by an extreme, such as absolutely.

In summary, when used well, adjectives elevate communication to a more effective level.

The post Adjectives appeared first on Linguix Blog.