When writing, remember less is more. Stay away from qualifiers. They weaken your prose, and the result is the exact opposite of what your were trying to achieve. I know why you use them. I’m hooked on ‘very’. Other people are hooked on the word ‘too’. If you are resorting to qualifiers for emphasis, odds are, you are using the wrong word in the first place.
These qualifiers are the words your English teacher dreaded seeing, such as very, too, really, and sort of. When you overuse these words, your writing will seem lazy, as if you haven’t taken the time to look for the right word.
Since ‘very’ is my nemesis, I thought I would provide a list of more powerful words to use to replace ‘very’ ___________.
- very fast quick
- very dry parched
- very dirty squalid
- very afraid terrified
- very angry furious
- very hot scolding
- very hungry ravenous
- very large colossal
- very clean spotless
- very clever brilliant
- very beautiful exquisite
- very ugly hideous
- very pretty beautiful
- very thin gaunt
- very tired exhausted
I think you get the picture. Thanks for stopping by, and I hope this got you thinking.
-Jan R
Yes. Yes Yes Yes.
I have a list that I search for every now and then. I don’t know how, but they get through somehow. Sneaky little words.
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🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
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