The default SurveyMonkey message to inform people that an online questionnaire is no longer available says, “This survey is currently closed.”

“Currently” in that sentence is unnecessary. “Currently” means “now” and is usually redundant with a present-tense verb. “Currently” can’t make the survey can’t be any more closed than it is. If I opened the survey again, it would then be available.

I delete “currently” from the message whenever I close an online SurveyMonkey questionnaire.

“Currently” is a “clutter word.” I see such words all the time, but they add no information to a sentence. They just add length. Unnecessary words in sentences reduce readability scores.

A recent Washington Post story included another example:

“Fonts are ‘the clothes that words wear,’ said early 20th-century editor Beatrice Warde. They also embody style, emotion and authority.”

In this paragraph, “also” in the second sentence is the clutter word. “Also” is usually unnecessary in a sentence that adds to the information in a previous sentence. The new sentence indicates a new idea (in addition to the one in the previous sentence).

Note, however, that “also” is appropriate in the construction “not only … but also.”

“In order” before an infinitive (“in order to decide”) are other clutter words. They are almost always unnecessary.

“On” is rarely needed in a sentence before a day or date (“I arrived Friday.”). One exception is when the sentence begins with the day or date (“On Monday, I will see the doctor”).

Because conciseness is one goal of good writing, think twice before you add “currently,” “also,” “in order,” or “on” to a sentence.

Copyright © 2023 Douglas F. Cannon