Words to cut: filler, wordy phrases, and redundant pairs

Most drafts carry words that add length but no meaning. Here is how to find the common ones, what to replace them with, and when a longer phrase is worth keeping.

Every word in a sentence asks for a moment of the reader’s attention. Words that carry meaning repay it. Words that only fill space spend the reader’s patience and dilute the words around them. Cutting them is the fastest way to make a draft clearer, and it rarely changes what you are saying.

The words worth cutting fall into four groups: wordy phrases, redundant pairs, throat-clearing openers, and filler words.

Wordy phrases

These are multi-word phrases with a shorter equivalent that means the same thing. They often come from formal or bureaucratic writing, where length was mistaken for seriousness.

Wordy	Shorter
in order to	to
due to the fact that	because
at this point in time	now
in the event that	if
for the purpose of	to, for
with regard to	about
has the ability to	can
in spite of the fact that	although
a large number of	many
on a daily basis	daily
prior to	before
in close proximity to	near

The Op-Ed Insight wordy phrases list has many more, each with a suggested short form.

Before: In order to qualify for the discount, customers must place their order prior to the end of the month.
19 words · 1 sentence · grade 8.6

After: To get the discount, order before the end of the month.
11 words · 1 sentence · grade 3.7

Before: Due to the fact that the server was down, a large number of users were unable to log in on a daily basis.
23 words · 1 sentence · grade 8.8

After: Because the server was down, many users could not log in each day.
13 words · 1 sentence · grade 4.9

Not every long phrase is padding. “In order to” sometimes prevents a misreading in a long sentence, and legal or technical writing may require a fixed phrase. But in everyday prose, the short form almost always works.

Redundant pairs

A redundant pair says the same thing twice. Some come from old legal English, which often paired words of different origins to be safe. Others are simple repetition.

Redundant	Enough
each and every	each, every
first and foremost	first
past history	history
end result	result
future plans	plans
free gift	gift
close proximity	near, nearby
basic fundamentals	fundamentals, basics
completely finished	finished
advance warning	warning
true facts	facts
unexpected surprise	surprise

Before: First and foremost, we need to review the past history of the account before we make any future plans.
19 words · 1 sentence · grade 8.6

After: First, we need to review the account’s history before we make plans.
12 words · 1 sentence · grade 5.8

These pairs survive because they sound emphatic. The emphasis is an illusion. “Each and every” does not mean more than “every”; it just takes longer to say it.

Throat-clearing openers

Many sentences start with a phrase that announces what is about to be said, instead of saying it. Writers do this while thinking. Readers do not need it.

Common openers:

It is important to note that
It should be pointed out that
I am writing to let you know that
I would like to take this opportunity to
As a matter of fact
The fact of the matter is that
It goes without saying that
Needless to say

If something is important, the reader will see that from what you say. If it goes without saying, do not say it.

Before: It is important to note that the deadline for submissions has been moved to Friday.
15 words · 1 sentence · grade 6.8

After: The submission deadline is now Friday.
6 words · 1 sentence · grade 6.4

Before: I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their hard work on the project.
17 words · 1 sentence · grade 7.7

After: Thank you all for your hard work on the project.
10 words · 1 sentence · grade 1.3

Openers also hide in the middle of paragraphs: “With that being said”, “That being the case”, “Having said that”. Most can become “But” or “So”, or vanish.

Filler words

Filler words are single words that slip into speech and then into writing. They usually soften or intensify without adding meaning.

basically, essentially, actually, literally: usually removable. “The plan is basically ready” means “The plan is ready”, or, if you are hedging, “The plan is almost ready”.
very, really, quite, extremely: intensifiers that often weaken the word they modify. “Very tired” is less vivid than “exhausted”. The adverbs and hedges and weasel words guides cover these.
just, simply: fine when they mean “only” or “recently”. Filler when they soften a request: “I just wanted to check in.”
that: often optional after verbs like “said” and “think”. “She said that she would come” works as “She said she would come”. Keep “that” if removing it causes a stumble.
there is, there are: these delay the real subject. “There are three people who can approve this” becomes “Three people can approve this”.

Before: There are actually quite a few people who basically just want a really simple answer.
15 words · 1 sentence · grade 9.9

After: Many people want a simple answer.
6 words · 1 sentence · grade 6.4

How to cut without losing your voice

Cutting can go too far. A draft stripped of every connective and softener can sound terse or cold, especially in email. A few guidelines help:

Cut meaning-free words first. Redundant pairs and wordy phrases can go almost every time.
Keep words that set tone on purpose. “Thanks so much” is longer than “Thanks”, and warmer. That can be the right choice.
Keep words that prevent misreading. If removing “that” makes a reader stumble, put it back.
Read the result aloud. If it sounds like a telegram, restore a word or two.

Measure the effect

A quick way to see what cutting does is to paste a paragraph into the word counter, make your cuts, and compare. Trimming 10 to 20 percent from a first draft is common without losing any content. The paragraph usually gets easier to read too, because shorter sentences and shorter words both lower readability grade scores.