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Wikipedia:Elements of Style improvement project

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The Elements of Style is a style guide written by Cornell University professor William Strunk, Jr. and then later revised by E.B. White. (A version of the book can be read online [http://www.bartleby.com/141/ here]). Part III of the book, "Elementary Principles of Composition," lists common English phrases that are tedious or unclear.

This page is a tool for finding such phrases within Wikipedia articles so readers and editors can replace them with suggested and nearly universally applicable alternatives. Use good judgement, however – it is unwise to do a blind, automatic substitution using AutoWikiBrowser or other tools, and it is best to read the sentence in context to ensure that the replacement fits. Other changes may be needed.

{{Active Wiki Fixup Projects}}

List of suggested improvements

In The Elements of Style, Strunk has a [http://www.bartleby.com/141/strunk5.html#13 list of commonly used phrases where words can be omitted].

Use the associated Google search to find the individual articles in need of improvement. Note that Google's index may be slightly out of date.

  • "There is no doubt but that" --> remove or replace with "no doubt" or "doubtless"
  • [http://www.google.com/search?q=%22there+is+no+doubt+but+that%22+site:en.wikipedia.org+-inurl:talk+-inurl:user+-inurl:talk+-inurl:user_talk Google site search] (0 hits)
  • Note "there is no doubt that" is not always the same as "no doubt" or "doubtless," so attention to subtle meaning is helpful in making these edits.
  • "The question as to whether" --> replace with "whether"
  • [http://www.google.com/search?q=%22the+question+as+to+whether%22+site:en.wikipedia.org+-inurl:talk+-inurl:user+-inurl:talk+-inurl:user_talk Google site search] (3 hits - all fixed)
  • "He was a man who" --> replace with "he"
  • [http://www.google.com/search?q=%22He+was+a+man+who%22+site:en.wikipedia.org+-inurl:talk+-inurl:user+-inurl:talk+-inurl:user_talk Google site search] (11 hits - all quotes)
  • "Because of the fact that" --> replace with "because"
  • [http://www.google.com/search?q=%22because+of+the+fact+that%22+site:en.wikipedia.org+-inurl:talk+-inurl:user+-inurl:talk+-inurl:user_talk Google site search] (135 hits - .. mostly talk or quotes; all others fixed)
  • "Owing to the fact that" --> replace with "because"
  • [http://www.google.com/search?q=%22owing+to+the+fact+that%22+site:en.wikipedia.org+-inurl:talk+-inurl:user+-inurl:talk+-inurl:user_talk Google site search] (67 hits - all fixed)
  • "The fact that --> "That"
  • "Each and every one" --> replace with "Every one"
  • [http://www.google.com/search?q=%22each+and+every+one%22+site:en.wikipedia.org+-inurl:talk+-inurl:user+-inurl:talk+-inurl:user_talk Google site search] (208 hits .. mostly talk or quotes; all others fixed)
  • "Doubt but" and "Help but"
  • Doubt but: [http://www.google.com/search?q=%22doubt+but%22+site:en.wikipedia.org+-inurl:talk+-inurl:user+-inurl:talk+-inurl:user_talk Google site search] (195 hits; many false positives and mostly talk; took care of the few true positives)
  • Help but: [http://www.google.com/search?q=%22help+but%22+site:en.wikipedia.org+-inurl:talk+-inurl:user+-inurl:talk+-inurl:user_talk Google site search] (1,950 hits, many false positives; )
  • "In spite of the fact that" --> replace with "in spite of" or "though" or "although" or "despite"
  • [http://www.google.com/search?q=%22in+spite+of+the+fact+that%22+site:en.wikipedia.org+-inurl:talk+-inurl:user+-inurl:talk+-inurl:user_talk Google site search] (371 hits)
  • (Please note: unlike any of the rest of the suggestions currently (28 October 2005) on this page, changing "in spite of the fact that" to "in spite of" or "despite" requires a *further* change in the construction sentence to be correct. The change takes the following pattern: "In spite of the fact that he needed the money..." becomes "Despite his needing the money..." or "Despite his having needed the money..."; the subject pronoun becomes a possessive and the verb changes to a gerund (or to the compound 'having' followed by the past participle.) Changing it to "although" or "though" works without further changes, however.)
  • "There is no doubt that" --> remove or replace with "no doubt" or "doubtless"
  • [http://www.google.com/search?q=%22there+is+no+doubt+that%22+site:en.wikipedia.org+-inurl:talk+-inurl:user+-inurl:talk+-inurl:user_talk Google site search] (468 hits)
  • "In regards to" --> replace with "in regard to"
  • [http://www.google.com/search?q=%22in+regards+to%22+site:en.wikipedia.org+-inurl:talk+-inurl:user+-inurl:talk+-inurl:user_talk Google site search] (2,360 hits)
  • "Regarded as being" --> replace with "regarded as"
  • [http://www.google.com/search?q=%22regarded+as+being%22+site:en.wikipedia.org+-inurl:talk+-inurl:user+-inurl:talk+-inurl:user_talk Google site search] (604 hits)
  • "seeing that" --> replace with "since"
  • [http://www.google.com/search?q=%22seeing+that%22+site:en.wikipedia.org+-inurl:talk+-inurl:user+-inurl:talk+-inurl:user_talk Google site search] (1,430 hits; many fewer than that and most false positives; fixed the few that were extant)
  • "Consider ___ as" --> replace with "Consider ___"
  • [http://www.google.com/search?q=%22consider+*+as%22+site:en.wikipedia.org+-inurl:talk+-inurl:user+-inurl:talk+-inurl:user_talk Google site search] (2,880 hits)
  • "being that" --> replace with "since"
  • [http://www.google.com/search?q=%22being+that%22+site:en.wikipedia.org+-inurl:talk+-inurl:user+-inurl:talk+-inurl:user_talk Google site search] (4,670 hits; many false positives; took care of the true ones.)
  • "Used for _____ purposes" --> replace with "used for _____" (example: "used for recreational purposes" --> "used for recreation")
  • [http://www.google.com/search?q=%22used+for+*+purposes%22+site:en.wikipedia.org+-inurl:talk+-inurl:user+-inurl:talk+-inurl:user_talk Google site search] (4,320 hits, but many false positives. Check the usage)
  • "As yet" --> replace with "yet" or remove if appropriate ("Man has not been to Mars...nor woman either.")"
  • [http://www.google.com/search?q=%22as+yet%22+site:en.wikipedia.org+-inurl:talk+-inurl:user+-inurl:talk+-inurl:user_talk Google site search] (3,870 hits)
  • Some false positives
  • "As to whether" --> replace with "whether"
  • [http://www.google.com/search?q=%22as+to+whether%22+site:en.wikipedia.org+-inurl:talk+-inurl:user+-inurl:talk+-inurl:user_talk Google site search] (11,400 hits)
  • "Whether or not" --> often appropriate to replace with "whether"
  • [http://www.google.com/search?q=%22whether+or+not%22+site:en.wikipedia.org+-inurl:talk+-inurl:user+-inurl:talk+-inurl:user_talk Google site search] (15,300 hits)
  • (Be careful when replacing 'whether or not' with 'whether' as it is often incorrect to do so.)

Elements of Style

Elements of Style