Avoiding Excessive Qualification

Because the object of your essay is to convince your reader of your point of view, you will want to adopt a reasonable tone. The occasional use of such qualifiers as fairly, rather, somewhat, and relatively and of such expressions as seems to be, a little, and a certain amount of will let the reader know you are not overstating your case. Excessive use of such modifiers, however, will make you sound unsure of yourself and weaken your argument. 

• WEAK: A fairly minor breach of etiquette can possibly disrupt a relationship, bringing negotiations pretty much to a standstill.
• STRONG: A minor breach of etiquette can disrupt a relationship, bringing negotiations to a standstill.

Other qualifiers, such as very, really, extremely, drastically, and a lot, can be used sparingly for emphasis, but their overuse will make your writing sound unconsidered and lacking in nuance. To state your idea more forcefully, think of a more precise word.

• WEAK: Yuja Wang is a very good pianist. Her interpretations are really expressive.
• STRONG: Yuja Wang is a virtuoso pianist. Her interpretations express a range of tones from delicate to abrasive.

Finally, don’t qualify words that are already absolute, as the qualifier is redundant.

WRONG	CORRECT
more unique	unique
the very worst	the worst
completely full	full

Avoiding Excessive Qualification Practice Set

Revise the following sentences to repair excessive qualification.

1. She was a fairly excellent teacher.

2. It is possible that we might overcome these obstacles.