It’s not what you think… Expletives It’s not what you think…

An expletive is literally a useless word What is an “Expletive”? An expletive is literally a useless word Many times, this can be a curse word In writing, this is a word that has no meaning but to emphasize “Indeed, the results of the study demonstrate the predictions of the hypothesis.” Where is the expletive?

Kinds of Expletives Empty words: Question-less question words Actually “What the article is about is important.” Really Expletive structures Various “There is a lot to get done today.” Meaningless words: There is In my opinion It is It is important that How can we rewrite the sentence? Redundant Pairs Final outcome In my opinion, it is important that all college students vote. Past history

What is an “Expletive”? Expletives are not always bad You use expletives to: Show emphasis Point to something Refer to a subject in a previous sentence or idea “Karate gives me a great workout. It is one of the most thorough forms of exercise available.”

Examples of Expletives Expletive: There are going to be hundreds of people attending the party. Correction: Hundreds of people will attend the party. Expletive: There is an easy way to determine the external temperature. Correction: The external temperature is easy to determine. Expletive: It is going to be a long, cold winter. Correction: The winter will be long and cold. Expletive: It was the setting sun that made it hard to see the ball. Correction: The setting sun made the ball hard to see.