Don’t you dare…in a formal paper
November 20th 2007
Here’s a list my teacher gave me back in high school. It’s compiled of things that should never be in a formal composition.
Don’t you dare…
- Use a contraction (don’t, couldn’t, etc.)
- Use “things” or “stuff”…be specific
- Use “nice” or “some” - too vague, over used
- Use “a lot” or worse - “alot”
- Use “bunch”
- Use slang
- Use “this, that, those, these” as pronouns, only use them as adjective before a noun or pronoun
- Put a comma before “because”
- Use “different than” - correct usage is “different from”
- Use “irregardless”- it’s a not real word, use regardless
- Use “off of”
- Use “plus” instead of “and”
- Write in passive voice when your sentence works in active voice.
- End a sentence with a preposition (to in, at, etc.)
This page was last modified on November 20, 2007 @ 11:28 pm









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