How to Make Weak Writing Stronger by Eliminating Phrasal Verbs
In my time editing my own writing and the writing of others, I’ve found one surefire way to make weak writing stronger. Not only does this technique eliminate unnecessary words, it also improves precision and clarity in any piece. As an added bonus, following one simple rule will make your writing appear more professional, and as any copywriter, content strategist, or technical writer understands, professionalism is essential when writing for clients.
The rule is this: get rid of phrasal verbs.
Get Rid of “Get Rid of”
Were you paying attention? I just used one. “To get rid of” is a phrasal verb.
I phrased my rule that way for two reasons. Primarily to use it as my first example, but also because I used the word “eliminate” in the first paragraph and I was not keen on repeating myself.
In this case “eliminate” and “get rid of” can be used interchangeably. The difference between them is exactly as I stated in the introduction: “get rid of” involves more words, it is less precise, and it sounds unprofessional.
Can you imagine a law firm wanting to use the phrase “get rid of” on their homepage copy? As in, “Get rid of your legal hassles”? Doesn’t “Eliminate your legal hassles” sound better? Absolutely. By using a more concise verb, “eliminate,” which doubles as a command, it prompts the reader to ask how. “Oh, I have legal hassles,” they think to themselves. “How do I eliminate them? Hire these guys, that’s how!”
If the copy read, “Get rid of your legal hassles,” they might think, “Yeah, I wish I could…” because the copy was written using a weak phrasal verb that did not also double as a command. “Eliminate” is the better choice because it is stronger, clearer, and more confident.
What Is a Phrasal Verb?
In short, a phrasal verb is a verb consisting of more than one word. Like “get rid of,” all phrasal verbs consist of a base word or phrase, and a modifier. The modifier can be a preposition, an adjective, or both. “Get” is a verb on it’s own, but when you add “rid of” to the end of it, it becomes a phrasal verb with an entirely different meaning.
We have an abundance of these words in English. They often start with “get” or “go,” but can be used in a variety of ways with a variety of words. Get up, go around, go back, get off, run away, make up, make better, etc. These words are essential to conversational English because we use them a lot. Apart from the multitude of phrasal verbs the foreign speaker must memorize, phrasal verbs can make it difficult for people learning English as a second language because of because of their lack of precision. Why “get up” and “make better”? Why not “stand” or “improve”?
That’s just how we talk. Of course, this lends a lot of flexibility to English as a language, something novelists and poets love about our language. But even in novels, phrasal verbs are typically avoided outside of dialogue because of their lack of precision. Go on, pick up a novel and check for yourself. Unless there is a specific reason to use a phrasal verb outside of dialogue (for example, there is not a stronger alternative), they get avoided.
Additionally, phrasal verbs are used in dialogue for the same reason they are avoided outside of it: they are used in conversational English. Using them in dialogue lends a measure of realism to a character’s speech, and avoiding them in narration and description allows for greater precision and clarity.
Example From a Stephen King Novel
Here is a narrative example from Stephen King’s novel The Waste Lands (The Dark Tower III).
“Jake skirted the wreck, snatching one terrified glance back over his shoulder. He saw no spiders; if not for the nastiness still trickling down his back, he might have believed he had imagined them.”
The example I wish to consider is the use of the word “skirt” as a verb. The sense of the sentence would have been preserved if King had chosen to use the phrasal verb “to go around” instead of “skirt.” E.g., “Jake went around the wreck.” But by using “skirt” instead of “went around”, King shows Jake’s fear of the wreck, and his desire to avoid it. It also implies that some risk would be involved if he had failed to avoid the wreck: in this case, the risk of losing his cool.
Did you spot the other phrasal verb in the example? “Trickle down” is a verb with a modifier, by definition a phrasal verb. But it does not detract from the meaning or precision of the sentence, and so there is no reason to eliminate it, even if we could come up with a better alternative.
The Choice Is Yours
Phrasal verbs are an essential part of the English language. I’m not saying don’t use them. Just know them for what they are. Opting in favor of phrasal verbs may inadvertently sacrifice the clarity or professionalism of a piece of writing in favor of familiarity. Unless you are trying to make friends with your readers, try to avoid phrasal verbs, especially in marketing and copy, because phrasal verbs belong in colloquial English and not strong, persuasive writing.
And hey, when your writing is as successful as Stephen King’s, maybe you’ll have me to thank for your success because you got rid of (*wink wink*) the fluff, and straight to the point. Until then, avoiding phrasal verbs will make our writing stronger and keep our clients happy.
‘because phrasal verbs belong in colloquial English and not strong, persuasive writing.’ George Orwell would respectively disagree.