2.8 Repetitions:

•Look out for the same words being repeated in a sentence and try to avoid that. It is in fact preferable that the same word not be repeated even in 2-3 sentences in the same paragraph, unless this is impossible to sidestep.

○Examples:

>The challenge before our nation is to be prepared to face all threats to the nation and preserve our national unity.

—This can read: The challenge before India is to prepare to counter all threats to our country and preserve national unity.

>Farmers’ suicides now account for 12 per cent of all suicides in the country.

—Hard to avoid repeating the word ‘suicide’ in such a sentence.

•Do not use a longer or needlessly complicated word where a shorter or simpler one will do just as well. And try not to use several multi-syllable words (five or more syllables) in the same sentence.

○Examples:

>Why say ‘approximately’ (five syllables) when ‘roughly’ will do (two syllables), though at times ‘approximately’ may be unavoidable.

>Or use ‘oddly enough’ instead of ‘paradoxically’.

•Keep sentences short – around 30-35 words or less – generally, as a norm, not as a rule.

○Example: The latest bout of killings and collective punishment of the long-suffering Nigerian villagers set off by the kidnap and killing of three Boko Haram soldiers has unfortunately not received the notice or condemnation it deserves in a region on the boil.

—Can read: The trigger for this latest bout of collective punishment of the villagers was the killing of three Boko Haram soldiers. Unfortunately, the massacre did not receive the condemnation it deserved in this troubled region.

At times, long sentences do get used, but not three in a row — the reader can get lost in the verbiage. If a long sentence is unavoidable, the preceding and following sentences must be crisp. The aim is to communicate.

•Avoid jargon: see sub- section 4.16 ‘Work in progress/Jargon ’ in the Style Guide in this document.