《中式英语之鉴》读书笔记（一）

会飞的大象

Unnecessary Nouns & Verbs

Nouns
a. Such redundancies are easy to find because many are already implied in other expressions.
the pace of economic reform
living standards for people
b. These are harder to find, but removing them does not change the meaning.
following the realization of mechanization and electrification
the key to the solution
c. The most common redundancy, "padding words" (i.e., a large word that contains the content of the following part).
a serious mistake in the work of planning
to ensure a relationship of close cooperation between ...

Verbs (usually connected with nouns)
a. Unnecessary Verb + Noun
We must make an improvement - improve in our work
They should conduct a careful examination of - carefully examine ...
These often occur with verbs like have, make, etc.
b. Unnecessary Verb + Noun + Third word
Our efforts to reach the goal of modernization - modernize
The second type of verb followed by a noun does not have actual meaning.
i. Existential verbs
ii. Overused action phrases (make every effort to, try our best to, do our utmost to, do everything possible to (also, plain verbs: strive to, endeavor to, work hard to), etc.)

Unnecessary Modifiers
Redundant modifiers
a. Obvious redundancy (two words that are clearly consistent in meaning)
advanced forecasts
new innovations
b. Temporal modifiers (in English, generally expressed by tense, adding a noun phrase will form redundancy)
How the government is working hard to improve taxation.
Previously we used to ...
c. Various (also, a serious of, all sorts of, various kinds of ... )
More and more of our various construction projects ....
d. Others
With the final completion of the construction

Self-evident modifiers
Make a proper adjustment