ShmoopTube

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Here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by mature acorns. A more sophisticated kind of nut.

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Check out the following passage and answer the question below.

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How would you correct the underlined portion of the following sentence? Does it need correcting?

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What you can expect is,

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This question is looking for concision.

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The underlined portion is an introductory phrase, so its job is to set the stage for

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the sentence to come. Usually, it's best to do this in as few words as possible. People

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tend to tune out when it takes too long to get to the main event.

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Choice (B) is redundant, making it an obvious elimination. "As is usually the case" and

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"in general" get across the same basic meaning. Therefore, there's absolutely no need to use

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both phrases--unless one enjoys being redundant.

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(A) introduces the sentence with the phrase "what you can expect is." Not only is this

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phrase wordy, it's also awkward because it implies that the rest of the sentence will

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be in the future tense. If we're expecting something, that means it hasn't happened yet,

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right? The verbs in the sentence--"are" and "buy"--are both in the present tense, so this

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introductory phrase sets up a false expectation. Sorry, (A), but we hate being disappointed.

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This brings us to choices (C) and (D), which offer the phrases "in a general case" and

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"in general." Our choice isn't too hard since we know we want the shortest introductory

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phrase possible. "In general" is the shortest option, making (D) the best answer.

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The shortest option is often best, except in the NBA draft.

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