American Diploma · ACT · English: Knowledge of Language

Concision and Redundancy

Redundant pairs, wordy phrases, active vs passive and the "shortest correct answer" rule with its exceptions — worked items and a 12-question ACT-style essay.

American Diploma › ACT English and Reading — Complete Course

What this question type tests

Concision questions belong to Knowledge of Language, one of the three reporting categories of the ACT English test. On the enhanced ACT, Knowledge of Language is 18–23% of the English score. It is about using language effectively: saying things clearly, precisely and without waste. (Word choice and tone, on the next page, are part of the same category.)

The English test has 50 questions (40 scored) in 35 minutes across five essays. A concision question looks exactly like a grammar question: an underlined portion, four choices, and usually NO CHANGE first. Often there is no question stem. Sometimes the last choice is "DELETE the underlined portion" or "OMIT the underlined portion." Sometimes a stem says: "Which choice is the most concise way to express the idea?"

The key insight: in a concision item, all four choices are often grammatically correct. They usually say the same thing. Three of them just use extra words, repeat an idea, or hide the doer of the action. Your job is to find the version that says the idea once, clearly, and completely.

القاعدة الذهبية

لو كل الاختيارات صح جراماتيكلي وبتقول نفس المعنى، اختار الأقصر. بس خلي بالك: الأقصر لازم يكون جملة سليمة ومش بيغيّر المعنى ولا بيشيل معلومة مهمة.

The "shortest correct answer" rule

When the choices differ only in length, follow this order of checks:

Is it grammatical? Throw out any choice with a fragment, comma splice, wrong verb form or broken modifier — even if it is the shortest.
Does it keep the meaning? Throw out any choice that changes what the writer is saying or removes a detail the sentence needs.
Of the choices left, pick the shortest. Extra words that add no meaning are wrong on the ACT.

Notice the order: correct first, then short. The shortest choice wins only when it survives the first two checks. Many students lose points because they choose the shortest answer automatically.

Error 1: Redundancy — saying the same thing twice

Redundancy means one word or phrase repeats the meaning of another. The ACT hides these pairs inside normal sentences. Learn to spot them:

Redundant	Why	Concise
annually each year	annually = each year	annually / each year
first originally suggested	first = originally	first suggested
return back	return = go back	return
repeat again	repeat = do again	repeat
a new innovation	innovations are new	an innovation
past history / past experience	history and experience are in the past	history / experience
completely finished / totally destroyed	finished and destroyed are already complete	finished / destroyed
the reason is because	reason already means 'because'	the reason is that / because
each and every	same idea twice	each / every
at 8 a.m. in the morning	a.m. = in the morning	at 8 a.m.
joined together / combined together	joining puts together	joined / combined
rarely and not often	rarely = not often	rarely
she quickly hurried	hurry = move quickly	she hurried
a sum total / end result / final outcome	sum, result and outcome already mean total/end/final	a total / a result / the outcome

Look outside the underline too. Often the repeated idea is in the words just before or after the underlined part:

✗ The festival, which happens __every year__, is held annually in October.
✓ The festival is held annually in October.
✗ Since the museum opened in 1998, it has __since__ welcomed millions of visitors.
✓ Since the museum opened in 1998, it has welcomed millions of visitors.

Extra information that everybody knows is also redundant on the ACT: "Saturdays, which are the sixth day of the week," "the Nile, which is a river," "at noon, the middle of the day." If the reader already knows it, delete it.

Error 2: Wordiness — many words for a small idea

Wordy phrases are not wrong in meaning; they are just long. Replace them with the short version:

Wordy	Concise
due to the fact that / owing to the fact that	because
in spite of the fact that	although
at this point in time / in this day and age	now / today
in order to	to
for the purpose of	to / for
has the ability to / is able to	can
in the event that	if
with regard to / in reference to	about
a large number of	many
make a decision / come to a conclusion	decide / conclude
there are many people who believe	many people believe
it is important to note that / it should be said that	(delete)
in the final analysis, when all is said and done	in the end / finally / (delete)
the fact that he was late	his lateness / he was late

Empty openers such as "There is/are … that/who" and "It is … that" usually add words without meaning: ✗ There are three volunteers who open the shop. ✓ Three volunteers open the shop.

Error 3: Passive vs active — when it matters

In the active voice, the doer comes first: "The students painted the wall." In the passive voice, the receiver comes first and the doer is added with "by," or hidden: "The wall was painted (by the students)."

The passive is not a grammar error. The ACT prefers the active voice when:

the active version is shorter and clearer, and
the doer is important to the meaning (the person or group the paragraph is about).

✗ A new route was discovered by the explorers. → ✓ The explorers discovered a new route.
✗ It was decided by the committee that the event would move. → ✓ The committee decided to move the event.

When the passive is fine (or better): the doer is unknown or unimportant, or the paragraph is about the thing that receives the action. "The temple was built in the thirteenth century BCE" is fine — the essay is about the temple, and the builders are not the topic. If all four choices are passive except one awkward active choice that changes the focus, do not force the active.

الـ passive مش غلط

المبني للمجهول مش غلطة جرامر. بس لو الفاعل مهم والجملة بالـ active أقصر وأوضح، اختار الـ active. لو الفاعل مش معروف أو مش مهم، الـ passive عادي.

The exceptions: when the shortest answer is wrong

Here is where good students get trapped. The shortest choice is wrong when:

Exception	Example of the short trap	Why it fails
It makes a grammar error	"…and its pasta makers especially popular with families."	The verb was cut — the clause has no main verb.
It changes or loses the meaning	"Borrowers must return tools within a week; they pay a late fee."	Now everyone pays a fee; the condition "otherwise" is gone.
It removes a detail the sentence needs	"The bridge is 3 kilometres long and was finished in 2010" → "The bridge was finished."	Facts the paragraph depends on are deleted.
It breaks the logic or a needed transition	Deleting "however" in a sentence that contrasts with the one before.	The reader loses the relationship between ideas.
DELETE leaves a broken sentence	"She put the keys __on the table__." → "She put the keys."	Some verbs (put, place, give) need the words that follow them.

Method for a DELETE choice: read the sentence aloud without the underlined part. Is it still a complete, correct sentence? Did it lose anything the reader needs? If it is fine and nothing important is lost, DELETE is usually right. The ACT offers DELETE often, and it is correct often — but never automatically.

Worked examples

Worked example 1 — redundancy hidden outside the underline

Passage: The bakery on our street has served the neighbourhood for fifty years. Every morning at 5 a.m., the owner __opens the doors early__ for the first customers.

Choose the best version of the underlined portion.

A) NO CHANGE
B) early opens the doors
C) opens the doors
D) opens the doors, which is early,

Answer: C

A) ✗ Wrong: "Early" repeats "at 5 a.m." — redundant.
B) ✗ Wrong: Same redundancy, just moved.
C) ✓ Correct: "At 5 a.m." already tells us it is early, so the plain verb is enough.
D) ✗ Wrong: Wordy and redundant: adds a clause to say the obvious.

Worked example 2 — passive vs active

Passage: The students in the robotics club worked for months on their machine. __The final design was chosen by the students__ after three failed versions.

Choose the best version of the underlined portion.

A) NO CHANGE
B) The students chose the final design
C) The final design, by the students, was chosen
D) It was the students who were the ones choosing the final design

Answer: B

A) ✗ Wrong: Grammatical, but passive and longer, and the paragraph is about the students — so the doer should come first.
B) ✓ Correct: Active, clear and shortest; the doer (the students) is the topic of the paragraph.
C) ✗ Wrong: Passive and awkward word order.
D) ✗ Wrong: Very wordy: "It was … who were the ones."

Worked example 3 — the shortest choice breaks grammar

Passage: Engineers tested the new bus lane for six months, and the results __were encouraging__: average trips became ten minutes shorter.

Choose the best version of the underlined portion.

A) NO CHANGE
B) encouraging
C) were encouraging and positive
D) were, in a word, encouraging

Answer: A

A) ✓ Correct: Clear and complete: the clause "the results were encouraging" has a subject and verb.
B) ✗ Wrong: Shortest, but the clause after "and" now has no verb — a grammar error.
C) ✗ Wrong: Redundant: encouraging results are positive.
D) ✗ Wrong: Wordy filler ("in a word").

Worked example 4 — DELETE

Passage: Our class visited the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, __a museum in Egypt,__ to see the Tutankhamun collection before it moved.

Choose the best version of the underlined portion.

A) NO CHANGE
B) an Egyptian museum,
C) which is located in Cairo, Egypt,
D) DELETE the underlined portion.

Answer: D

A) ✗ Wrong: Repeats what "the Egyptian Museum in Cairo" already says.
B) ✗ Wrong: Same repetition in different words.
C) ✗ Wrong: Repeats "in Cairo" and is wordy.
D) ✓ Correct: Without it: "Our class visited the Egyptian Museum in Cairo to see…" — complete, correct and nothing lost.

Classic traps

Shortest but broken: the shortest choice drops a verb or creates a fragment.
Shortest but changed: the shortest choice removes "not," "only," "otherwise," a number or a condition.
Hidden repeat: the redundancy is with words outside the underline ("every year … annually").
Fancy filler: long, formal-sounding phrases ("in the final analysis," "it is important to note that") feel smart but are just wordy.
Synonym pairs: "each and every," "brought together and united," "small and minor" — two words, one idea.
The obvious explained: "the sun, which is a star," "Saturday, the sixth day of the week."
Passive with a hidden doer when the paragraph is about that doer.

Fast strategy for test day

When the four choices look like the same idea in different lengths, it is a concision item — check the shortest first.
Test the shortest choice: grammatical? same meaning? nothing needed lost? If yes, choose it and move on (10–15 seconds).
If it fails, test the next shortest.
For DELETE: read the sentence without the underline. Complete and nothing lost → DELETE.
Read one sentence before and after: the repeated idea is often there.
Do not change correct wording just because it is long; length is a problem only when words add nothing.

Practice

Read the essay and answer the 12 questions. Some questions test redundancy and wordiness, some test active and passive, and some test the exceptions to the shortest-answer rule.

Remember

Correct first, then short: the shortest choice wins only if it is grammatical and keeps the meaning.
Redundancy = one idea said twice — check the words outside the underline too.
Replace wordy phrases (due to the fact that, at this point in time) with one word (because, now).
Prefer the active voice when the doer matters; the passive is fine when the doer is unknown or unimportant.
DELETE is right when the sentence stays complete and nothing the reader needs is lost.

All pages in this course

Start here

English: Conventions of Standard English

English: Production of Writing and Knowledge of Language

Reading

Practice tests