And & That......
......are difficult.
They are two words often used in sentences though we barely notice them until we have to mentally repeat them several times in a long sentence or a paragraph. But what are the options?
Let's start with 'That'. The easiest thing to do is remove the word completely. You may find yourself surprised at the number of times you can remove it and it'll make no difference to the meaning of a sentence. When you can't remove it, leave it. There aren't many realistic alternatives to use.
Next up is 'And'. This is altogether easier to replace. Options include 'then', while', 'though' and several more. You may still find that 'and' is the only viable option, so keep it in those instances.
Read that last sentence again. Then remove 'that' from it. It still works. Now read the first sentence of this paragraph again, this time replacing 'that' with 'the'. Still makes makes sense. Two examples of how easy it can be to remove or replace 'that'.
'We went to the seaside and swam in the sea.' Here we see the word 'and' used in a normal sentence. What can we replace it with? One option is to use 'then'. If you expand the sentence into a paragraph with a normal, liberal use of the word 'and', you will find it can be replaced with other words, not necessarily synonyms, while being just as effective. As I did in the last sentence, using 'while' instead of 'and'.
Why is this important to consider? The two words are used liberally in all writing, and due to that repetition and the need to pronounce the 'T' and 'D', can cause a mental spike each time that they are used. Changing the words, or removing them altogether, allows sentences to flow in a calmer fashion through the mind, making reading easier. As you can probably tell by the difference between the previous two sentences.
The two of them are attention seekers due to the way we pronounce them, interrupting the flow of words, standing out in sentences where they should be mere adjuncts or connections.
Change them, remove them, put them in their place. Your readers will thank you.
They are two words often used in sentences though we barely notice them until we have to mentally repeat them several times in a long sentence or a paragraph. But what are the options?
Let's start with 'That'. The easiest thing to do is remove the word completely. You may find yourself surprised at the number of times you can remove it and it'll make no difference to the meaning of a sentence. When you can't remove it, leave it. There aren't many realistic alternatives to use.
Next up is 'And'. This is altogether easier to replace. Options include 'then', while', 'though' and several more. You may still find that 'and' is the only viable option, so keep it in those instances.
Read that last sentence again. Then remove 'that' from it. It still works. Now read the first sentence of this paragraph again, this time replacing 'that' with 'the'. Still makes makes sense. Two examples of how easy it can be to remove or replace 'that'.
'We went to the seaside and swam in the sea.' Here we see the word 'and' used in a normal sentence. What can we replace it with? One option is to use 'then'. If you expand the sentence into a paragraph with a normal, liberal use of the word 'and', you will find it can be replaced with other words, not necessarily synonyms, while being just as effective. As I did in the last sentence, using 'while' instead of 'and'.
Why is this important to consider? The two words are used liberally in all writing, and due to that repetition and the need to pronounce the 'T' and 'D', can cause a mental spike each time that they are used. Changing the words, or removing them altogether, allows sentences to flow in a calmer fashion through the mind, making reading easier. As you can probably tell by the difference between the previous two sentences.
The two of them are attention seekers due to the way we pronounce them, interrupting the flow of words, standing out in sentences where they should be mere adjuncts or connections.
Change them, remove them, put them in their place. Your readers will thank you.
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