My car is located in the car park. It is placed in the car park. It can be found in the car park. It is positioned in the car park. It stands in the car park. Nope.
Category Archives: Longwindedness
Cause and effect
“Causing something to take place” isn’t incorrect. But 99 times out of 100, the native speaker would say it was “made to happen”.
In relation to, with regard to
Texts by Dutch authors tend to be full of little phrases like these. Sure, they have their place, but there’s often a natural one-word alternative.
The blog’s purpose
There seems to be a common belief that the possessive form must only be used for animate objects. That is (of course) complete bollocks.
The muscles of the legs of the sprinter
Using possessive forms and adjectival nouns rather than “of the” can make your writing a lot more succinct.
Writing in “the English language”
Speaking “the English language”. Mastery of “the English language”. Um… what’s wrong with just saying “English”?
By starting sentences like this…
… you are forced into a clumsy structure. Avoiding it lets you make the syntax snappier.
The prevention of longwindedness
Dutch writers love the structure “the + (verbal noun) + of” where English prefers the gerund: “preventing longwindedness”.
In a manner, way or fashion
If you want to write English in an efficient manner, in a smart way and in a natural fashion, then don’t forget your adverbs. Do it efficiently, smartly and naturally.
The field of…
Major contributions in the field of microbiology… Great commitment to the field of science… When the word count for your paper’s abstract is limited, it can be annoying to discover it’s gone up by 5% in the English.
Advanced Dunglish 