Redundant Meanings
Summary
Redundancy on ACT English means repeating the same idea unnecessarily, and spotting it helps you choose the clearest, most concise sentence. The strongest answer usually removes repeated meaning, unnecessary phrases, or overlapping conjunctions while preserving the sentence’s intended point.
- Redundancy occurs when a sentence repeats an idea, and it can be easy to miss unless you actively look for repeated meaning.
- Simple repetitions such as "annually" and "each year" signal a clear redundancy, so only one expression of the time idea should remain.
- Some redundancies are more subtle, as in phrases like "worth little in value," where part of the meaning is already implied and extra words should be removed for concision.
- Redundancy can also appear in sentence structure, especially with conjunctions like "although" and "but," where only one contrasting connector is needed.
- On real ACT questions, redundancy may be paired with other tested skills such as word choice and spelling, as with "principles" versus "principal," so both meaning and correctness matter.
- An answer choice that omits an underlined phrase deserves careful attention because deleting words is often correct when the phrase is redundant or unnecessary.
Chapters
00:00
Understanding Redundancy on ACT English
00:23
Identifying Repeated Meaning and Choosing Concision
01:38
Fixing Redundant Conjunctions
02:17
Applying Redundancy Rules to Official-Style Questions