Redundancy Error - Sentence Correction

Alright, so when you encounter a question like this in an exam or in any situation. Do you
really know what's wrong? Most people would look at the tenses. Okay, the subject verb
agreement.

And then eventually, if you don't see anything wrong. They would just say no error. But if
you notice right here, the order is correct here.ff.v.

The comma here is correct. The comma there, everything is correct. The only thing wrong
there is this part right here.

Letter C. What's wrong there? The repeat the question again. Let me show you why that's
wrong. Because repeat means you're going to repeat it.

So when you say again, what does that mean? You're going to repeat it.

-This is what we call a redundancy error. Now before we go on, let me just define the word
redundancy.

-As Miriam said in her search dictionary. Redundant is an adjective. It means exceeding what
is necessary or normal.

It means, again, you're overdoing it. It's like you're repeating it. And when it comes to
English grammar, that's not a good thing.

If anything doesn't add to the sentence. It means it's not necessary. And if it's not necessary,
it needs to be removed.

Now it's characterized by or containing an excess. So it means, again, using more words than
necessary. Anything that is not necessary but is there, you can remove it.

So if you ever experienced the term redundant in the office, that's also where it comes
from. It means if you're doing something that others are doing. You're working on the same
job.

And there's no need for two people to do it. You can remove it from work. That's what it's
called redundant.

Because that position is already redundant. Okay, so this is the last definition. No longer
needed for a job.

And hence laid off. So again, if you don't need it because others are doing your job. You're
redundant.

That position is redundant. So you don't need it anymore. You can remove it.

So again, the word redundant means something that is repeated. Which means the same
that is not necessary in one sentence. Now, where does that go? We Filipinos are fond of
adjectives.
We're fond of words that make sentences longer. And that's a common mistake. Whether
you're starting out or if you're good at English.

Or even professional writers. That's the first sin. Personally, I'm not immune to that.

I also do that. Especially if I want to emphasize a point. I end up doing the so-called
redundancy error.

If I feel like I want to emphasize something. Sometimes, I don't notice it. And the adjective
that I used.

And the noun itself. It means the same. Or the next two adjectives.

It also means the same. When we talk about adjective. It means it's a word that describes
another word.

Or whatever it's following. It can describe something else. So again, if the definition of
adjective.

It's already following another adjective or noun. Then it means it is already redundant.

-Now, the best way for me to show you this.

Is to actually give you an example. So let's look at this sentence right here. Now, what's
wrong with this? What's wrong with this sentence? First of all.

Like I tell my students. When I teach other subjects. Especially if they're writing papers.

So if I'm teaching psych. Or business English. Or political science.

Which I used to teach in college before. I tell them about the three-line rule. The three-line
rule is.

If the sentence is long. So long. Too long actually.

That it reaches three lines. When you're typing. In Word.

Or whatever app you're using to write your paper. Usually there's a mistake there. And that
also applies here.

If you notice. The sentence is too long. What I'm saying is.

Don't allow and give permission to your past history. To completely destroy your coming
future. Now, what's wrong with this? Again, as Filipinos.

And as learners of a second language. Or even if it's not. There's this feeling.

That the longer the sentence. The better it is. That you'll be smart if the sentence is long.

Especially if we're talking about. Compositions. Or creative writing classes.

Where you're requiring 500-700 words. When we're giving assignments. We're telling you.

You need 500-700 words. And if you don't have much to say. You end up doing this.

You end up. Like you're making the sentence too long. That's why you don't have much to
say.

For example. In here. All he's saying is.

Don't let your past. Destroy your future. But because he said it so long.

Some people get impressed. Like wow. The sentence is so long.

You said so much. When in fact. It's actually wrong.

Why is this wrong? Let me break this down for you. Let's start with this first part right here.
He said don't allow.

And give permission to. Now, what does allow mean? When we use the word allow. What it
means in itself.

Is to give permission. Right? They mean the same thing. Okay.

They're synonyms. What does that mean? Or it's not synonyms. Because it's not one word.

But basically. They are equivalents. They have the same meaning.

When you allow someone. To do something. You're giving them permission.

So what does that mean? Because they have the same meaning. They can't be added. To
the sentence.

Okay. So you have to choose. If you're going to edit this.

You're going to remove one of them. So instead of using. Don't allow and give permission to.

You need to take out one of those. So for example. Don't allow.

Don't allow your. So again. This part right here.

That entire part. Is a redundancy error. Okay.

Now. Don't allow. Your past history.

Now this part right here. I see this happen all the time. I've seen a lot of people do this.

Actually. I can't say that I never did this. I mean.

If I don't reply to all my tweets. Or posts since I started using social media. I probably also
made this error.

This redundancy error. Is very. Very.

Simple. When you talk about past. It already means your history.

They mean the same thing. History. History.

History. You can just choose. One of those things.

Okay. Okay. Okay.

Okay. Okay. Okay.

Okay. Okay. Okay.

Okay. Okay. Okay.

Okay. Okay. Okay.

Okay. Okay. Okay.

Okay. Okay. Okay.

Okay. Okay. Okay.

Okay. Okay. Okay.

Okay. Okay. Okay.

Okay. Okay. Okay.

Okay. Okay. Okay.

Okay. Okay. Okay.

Okay. Okay. Okay.

Okay. Okay. Okay.

Which is actually the problem with our language. We like repeating words. For example.

Words. To emphasize our point. But in the English culture, English language.

This is something we need to unlearn. And we need to be more careful of. Because it is not
built in for us.

In our language, syntax, and semantics. These things are not automatic mistakes. So we
have to be extra careful.

When you see parts of a sentence. That's underlined in your exam. Okay.

Now here's another one. In this sentence, you can see how many times it was repeated or
how many times I put the redundancy errors. Just so you can notice that sometimes it's not
noticed.
For example, coming future. Again, same idea in the past history. Why? Because the future
is coming.

It means you don't need to say coming because the future is built-in. Now, when you say
future, it's still coming. Just like when you say your future is coming.

So you don't need to say coming, just facing because it's simpler. So again, simplicity is
better. This is what we need to learn.

So this is an error that is not noticed because we always do this, we always hear it. And
sometimes we also feel impressed when we hear people who can put adjectives or adverbs
of the same. You know, like paper means where all the synonyms of words are put.

That is something that we need to be careful of. Now, I'm going to challenge you with this.
This is just a sample.

I will give you five minutes to spot the errors in this next sentence. So you can have a little
taste of what I'm saying here.

-Okay, your timer starts now. All right, let's see how you did. The small dwarf was shockingly
surprised by the evident appearance of the enormous giant.

So again, same thing as before, I want you to spot all of the redundancies in this sentence.
Again, I added so much so that you can notice it and be careful the next time you see it.

-Okay, so the first one is here, the small dwarf.

Why? Because when you say dwarf, it's automatically small. It means you don't need to say
small anymore. The dwarf is already small in itself.

So this is a redundancy error. You can remove the small, just the dwarf. The dwarf was, and
then if you didn't spot it, this one right here is also a redundancy.

This is shockingly surprised. And when we say shock, it's also a surprise. So again, you don't
need to say shockingly surprised anymore.

Right? Gulat na gulat siyang nagulat. That's what you said, right? You don't need to say that
anymore. You can just say nagulat siya.

So this part right here, you can take away. The dwarf was surprised. That's all.

That's all that will be left in the first line. So next line, by the evident appearance. This one
right here is also problematic.

Bakit? Kasi pag sinabing evident, ibig sabihin nakikita. It's something that is seen or obvious.
So kung nakikita na yung evident, ang appearance, yun din ang ibig sabihin niya na nakikita
mo siya.
Ibig sabihin, hindi mo na kailangan sabihin evident yung appearance. Kasi yung appearance,
that word in itself, ibig sabihin na nun nakikita mo siya. So hindi mo na kailangan i-
emphasize na evident yung isang appearance.

So we don't need this word anymore. You can just take it out. So the dwarf was surprised by
the appearance.

Again, mas streamlined, mas simple, mas madali. Of the, and this part right here is the same
as this. This is, itong enormous na yan is already a redundancy.

Bakit? Kasi pag sinabing giant, malaki. Wala namang giant na maliit. Right? Hindi naman
tayo pwede maglagay na giant na maliit.

Okay? Kailangan, the giant, the word in itself, already means a big person. So it's already big.
So hindi mo na kailangan sabihin na enormous big giant.

Parang ganoon. Hindi mo na kailangan sabihin yun. Giant na lang.

So we can also take this out. So the sentence, ang matitira lang is, The dwarf was surprised
by the appearance of the giant. Okay? So you have one, two, three, four.

Four redundancies in one sentence.