Parsing: What are redundant expressions in English

In English, a redundant expression is a language construct consisting of two or more words with a similar or identical meaning. This means that if one or more words can be removed from a phrase without losing meaning, then it is redundant. The use of redundant phrases is considered bad style because it makes the text more cumbersome and difficult to understand.

I found an interesting post-explanation of what various types of redundant English expressions are. I present to you the adapted version of this material.
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What is redundancy?

Here is what redundancy looks like in a sentence:

The former alumnus of Harvard was elected as a mayor of his hometown.

He had enough money to buy a new car.

I was going to send an email to you.

Bold expressions are redundant. In the first perimer, you can leave only the word alumnus, since it denotes a former student of an educational institution, in the next sentence the word sufficient means the same as enough, just as if instead of “send Will not change.

Obviously, if you clear these sentences of redundancy, they will become easier, it will be easier to read them. In addition, sometimes the use of redundant phrases gives the impression that the writer does not really understand what he is talking about.

Types of redundant expressions

There are three main types of redundant expressions.

Type # 1. Adjectives with the same meaning as the word they describe

Example :

I was invited to their annual anniversary party.

If you look at the meaning of the word “anniversary” in the dictionary, it will say there that it means “the date on which the event happened last year” - that is, the annual is underlined here. The adjective annual means the same thing, so here you can easily get by with one noun.

Type # 2. Adverbs repeating the meaning of the verb

This is often the case when using verbs with prefixes, like re-, which means repetition.

Example:

It was reverted.

In this case, it would be better to discard the word back.

Type # 3. A group of words with identical meanings.

Sometimes people include several words with extremely close meanings in a sentence. As a result, nothing good happens.

Example:

He has acrophobia but nevertheless climbing this high wall.

In this example, “But” is the same as “nevertheless”, so there is no need to use both words.

How to find redundancy and get rid of it

It is not always very easy to do. The main advice here is to practice more, to learn the real meanings of English words. If in doubt, use a dictionary.

Another way is to activate one of the spelling checkers that exist today. Most of them do a good job of finding redundancy.