Writing: Concise Sentences Cut the Waffle
Concise sentences cut the waffle is the B2 writing skill that teaches what to remove rather than what to add. The technique identifies common padding patterns — redundant pairs (future plans, brief summary, true facts), empty intensifiers (very, really, quite, somewhat), throat-clearing openers (It should be noted that, It is interesting to consider), passive-voice padding (It was decided that the team would), and wordy alternatives to single verbs (make a decision → decide, give consideration to → consider). Learners build the editing skill that distinguishes professional writing from student writing.
This worksheet builds B2 writing fluency with editing-for-concision.
Worksheet preview
What’s inside:
- A reference table of padding patterns and their concise alternatives
- Editing drills: cut redundancy from sample sentences
- Rewriting task: tighten a wordy paragraph by 25%
- Multiple-choice on most concise version of the same content
- Original-writing task: write a 200-word version of a topic, then edit to 150 words
- Full Answer Key plus Teacher Notes
Common challenges: Knowing what to cut at B2 — every word should earn its place. Redundancy detection: doubled adjectives, padded openers, intensifier overuse. Recognising that shorter is usually stronger in professional and academic writing.
For: Adult and teenage learners (14+) at CEFR B2, in upper-intermediate classes, 1:1 lessons, or self-study. Maps onto Cambridge B2 First (FCE) Writing and C1 Advanced (CAE) Writing assessment criteria. Part of the Sentence Building & Style collection — the natural next step is Text-Level Cohesion and Coherence, which extends concise writing into multi-paragraph organisation.
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