By: Jane Sumerset
Submitted: 2010-01-22 14:44:38 | Word Count: 515
Any time I’m reading a piece of writing and I come across wishy washy qualifiers, it immediately tells me that writer likely has no idea about the subject of the piece. Their actual knowledge of the subject becomes irrelevant, because they communicate a lack of confidence with their words. Even attaching degrees and qualifications at the byline won’t sway my mind – after all, the proof is always in the pudding.
Qualifiers can be a word or a phrase that precedes an adjective or an adverb. It increases or decreases the quality indicated by the word it modifies. There are a lot of words and phrases that are commonly used as qualifiers. However, some of those words do have other functions as well.
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Most of us use unintentionally use qualifiers in writing. They serve as signals of being uncertain and a desire to please someone. If you keep on using these words, the more it distracts your reader’s attention since they are hesitant to believe in you. In order to avoid or limit these words in your write ups, you better know what these words are.
What are these namby pamby qualifiers that effectively whittle down the readers’ view of your proficiency with a topic (regardless of how otherwise impeccable your writing software shaped your piece into)? Check out the list below and see if you frequently employ these words:
• seem
• likely
• somewhat
• usually
• probably
• often
• appears
These words aren’t bad on their own. However, when they appear too frequently in your text, they immediately speak to your lack of authority. If you don’t even respect your own views or perception of the subject to state it without doubt, why should we bother reading about it?
Qualifiers, like the list above, shift responsibility away from the author. In effect, it’s akin to saying that “while these are my opinions and observations, I could be wrong for whatever reason.” That’s like an “expert” telling you do the following step, but adds that “If it doesn’t work, then it could be because of a million different things.” While we don’t discourage using qualifiers like the above (especially when you need to cover your ass), using them too much only means one thing: you need to go back and research your subject better.
It’s a fact that there are a lot of writers out there who are not aware about this issue. Excessive use of these qualifiers can lead to writing deficiency which is an overly informal approach with the use of words. But then, you need to choose your words carefully. In order to avoid it when it comes into writing, be sure to determine the words you’re going to write.
You can revise your statements if you think you keep on using these words over and over again. You need to observe well in your writings. As much as possible, omit unnecessary words in your sentences. It can greatly affect the quality of your content just like erasing any unnecessary lines in your drawing or portrait.
Author Resource:-
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