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Cbsteh Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
"ever experienced" a redundant expression?
Is "ever experienced" a redundant expression? For example, instead of:
"Yesterday's flooding was the worst ever experienced by this country"
should it be:
"Yesterday's flooding was the worst experienced by this country"
Chris
"Yesterday's flooding was the worst ever experienced by this country"
should it be:
"Yesterday's flooding was the worst experienced by this country"
Chris
Top answer
I don't think it would be considered redundant. The flooding could have been the worst experienced in the last 10 years, the worst experienced in the last 200 years, or the worst ever experienced. ever just emphasizes that no matter how far back you go in time, still no such flooding was experienced.
- I don't think it would be considered redundant.
- The flooding could have been the worst experienced in the last 10 years, the worst experienced in the last 200 years, or the worst ever experienced.
- ever just emphasizes that no matter how far back you go in time, still no such flooding was experienced.
- You can argue that ever is the default if no other phrase limits the experience, but still I don't think most people would say that ever is redundant.
- The same reasoning applies for never .
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3 Answers
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I don't think it would be considered redundant.
The flooding could have been the worst experienced in the last 10 years, the worst experienced in the last 200 years, or the worst ever experienced.
ever just emphasizes that no matter how far back you go in time, still no such flooding was experienced.
You can argue that ever is the default if no other phras
The flooding could have been the worst experienced in the last 10 years, the worst experienced in the last 200 years, or the worst ever experienced.
ever just emphasizes that no matter how far back you go in time, still no such flooding was experienced.
You can argue that ever is the default if no other phras
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Great, thanks for the clarification. I was asking because my grammar checker flagged that sentence as a possible redundacy. Sometimes, grammar checkers help, and some times, well, just confuse you, though they can force you to think more thoroughly over a sentence.
Chris
Chris
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cbstehmy grammar checker flagged that sentenceAh, yes. You have to be careful with some of that software. The software doesn't really "understand" what you are trying to say, and just points out mindlessly whatever patterns it is programmed to find. But you knew that already.
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