5 exercises — practise cutting wordy, roundabout phrasing down to direct technical English.
0 / 15 completed
1 / 15
Which sentence avoids circumlocution while keeping the same meaning as "due to the fact that the server was experiencing a period of high load"?
"Because the server was under high load" replaces the wordy phrase "due to the fact that" with the single concise conjunction "because", and replaces "experiencing a period of high load" with the direct phrase "under high load" — cutting word count roughly in half without losing meaning. Option A is the original circumlocutory phrase, kept for comparison. Option C and D add even more padding ("owing to the circumstance that", "in light of the fact that", "subject to a state of") — these are examples of circumlocution getting worse, not better, and should be avoided entirely in technical writing where directness and scannability matter.
2 / 15
Which rewrite of "make a decision regarding whether or not to proceed with the deployment" is most concise and grammatically correct?
"Decide whether to proceed with the deployment" replaces the nominalized phrase "make a decision regarding" with the direct verb "decide", and drops the redundant "or not" (since "whether" already implies a binary choice, "or not" is usually unnecessary unless emphasizing contrast). This is a standard circumlocution fix: turning a noun-heavy phrase back into a verb. Option C is the original wordy phrase. Option A keeps "or not" and adds "come to a decision on the question of", which is even more roundabout. Option B is grammatically awkward ("whether or not proceeding... should occur" is a convoluted nominalized construction) and less clear than the direct infinitive form in option D.
3 / 15
In a design doc, which sentence most concisely expresses "it is our recommendation that the team should give consideration to the adoption of a message queue"?
"We recommend adopting a message queue" cuts the sentence from sixteen words to six by replacing the nominalized phrases "it is our recommendation that" and "give consideration to the adoption of" with the direct verb "recommend" followed by a gerund. This is the clearest, most scannable phrasing for a design doc, where recommendations should stand out immediately. Options A, B, and C all preserve one or more layers of unnecessary nominalization and passive framing ("it is our recommendation", "consideration be given", "adopting... by the team"), which bury the actual recommendation under formal-sounding but empty structure — a common circumlocution trap in corporate technical writing.
4 / 15
Which sentence avoids circumlocution when explaining why a test failed?
"The test failed because the mock returned stale data" is direct: subject + verb + reason clause, with no unnecessary nominalizations. Option C piles up circumlocutory phrases ("the reason for the failure of", "on account of the fact that", "data that was stale" instead of "stale data"). Option B nominalizes both the main action ("the failure that occurred") and the cause ("the returning of stale data by the mock" instead of "the mock returned stale data"), and uses an unnecessary passive construction. Option A inverts the sentence awkwardly with a cleft structure ("It was... that...") that adds no emphasis value here and needlessly nominalizes "underwent a failure" instead of simply saying "failed".
5 / 15
Which is the most concise, direct way to express "at this point in time, we do not currently have the capability to support that feature"?
"We can't support that feature yet" collapses several redundant circumlocutions into a short, direct sentence: "at this point in time" and "currently" are redundant duplicates of the same idea (pick one, or better, use tense/aspect and "yet" to convey it), and "have the capability to support" is a wordy nominalization of the simple verb "support" combined with the modal "can't". Options A, B, and C all repeat "at this point in time" together with "currently" (redundant), and use "capability to support"/"capability required for the support of" instead of the direct verb "support" — hallmark signs of circumlocution that technical writing should eliminate for clarity and brevity.
6 / 15
John: 'The application's performance is currently exhibiting a degradation. This is attributed to an elevated number of concurrent users and increased network latency.'
Which of the following responses from Sarah best avoids circumlocution while accurately conveying the same information?
This question targets direct phrasing of technical issues. 'John' uses overly verbose language like 'due to the fact that' and redundant phrases like 'exhibiting a degradation.' Option A repeats this unnecessarily. Option B simplifies too much, losing precision. Option C is more concise but still somewhat indirect. Option 3 – 'There's a problem with how quickly the app responds to users…' – directly states the core issue in clear terms.
7 / 15
In a Slack message to the team regarding a new feature proposal, Maria writes: 'It is our recommendation that the team should give consideration to the adoption of a message queue for handling asynchronous tasks.'
Which alternative phrasing best avoids circumlocution and conveys the same intent?
Maria's sentence uses overly formal and indirect language. Phrases like 'it is our recommendation' and 'give consideration' are unnecessary. Option A is informal and lacks professionalism. Option B is too vague. Option D simply states the idea without framing it as a proposal. Option 3 – 'The team should consider using a message queue…' – clearly states the recommended action in a direct manner.
8 / 15
John: 'The application's performance is currently exhibiting a degradation. This is attributed to an elevated number of concurrent users and increased network latency.'
Which of the following responses from Sarah best avoids circumlocution while accurately conveying the same information?
This question targets direct phrasing of technical issues. 'John' uses overly verbose language like 'due to the fact that' and redundant phrases like 'exhibiting a degradation.' Option A repeats this unnecessarily. Option B simplifies too much, losing precision. Option C is more concise but still somewhat indirect. Option 3 – 'There's a problem with how quickly the app responds to users…' – directly states the core issue in clear terms.
9 / 15
In a Slack message to the team regarding a new feature proposal, Maria writes: 'It is our recommendation that the team should give consideration to the adoption of a message queue for handling asynchronous tasks.'
Which alternative phrasing best avoids circumlocution and conveys the same intent?
Maria's sentence uses overly formal and indirect language. Phrases like 'it is our recommendation' and 'give consideration' are unnecessary. Option A is informal and lacks professionalism. Option B is too vague. Option D simply states the idea without framing it as a proposal. Option 3 – 'The team should consider using a message queue…' – clearly states the recommended action in a direct manner.
10 / 15
John: 'The application's performance is currently exhibiting a degradation. This is attributed to an elevated number of concurrent users and increased network latency.'
Which of the following responses from Sarah best avoids circumlocution while accurately conveying the same information?
This question targets direct phrasing of technical issues. 'John' uses overly verbose language like 'due to the fact that' and redundant phrases like 'exhibiting a degradation.' Option A repeats this unnecessarily. Option B simplifies too much, losing precision. Option C is more concise but still somewhat indirect. Option 3 – 'There's a problem with how quickly the app responds to users…' – directly states the core issue in clear terms.
11 / 15
In a Slack message to the team regarding a new feature proposal, Maria writes: 'It is our recommendation that the team should give consideration to the adoption of a message queue for handling asynchronous tasks.'
Which alternative phrasing best avoids circumlocution and conveys the same intent?
Maria's sentence uses overly formal and indirect language. Phrases like 'it is our recommendation' and 'give consideration' are unnecessary. Option A is informal and lacks professionalism. Option B is too vague. Option D simply states the idea without framing it as a proposal. Option 3 – 'The team should consider using a message queue…' – clearly states the recommended action in a direct manner.
12 / 15
PR Description: 'Due to the fact that the system is currently experiencing a period of high load, we have implemented a caching layer to improve performance.'
Which rewritten description best communicates this change with clarity and precision?
This question focuses on conciseness in a PR description. The original phrasing is overly verbose and uses 'due to the fact that.' Option 1 directly states the problem (high load) and the solution (caching layer). Options A and B are too generic, while option D maintains the unnecessary circumlocution.
13 / 15
During a stand-up, Alex says: 'I'm currently working on troubleshooting an issue with the user authentication service. It is our recommendation that we should give consideration to the adoption of a message queue for handling asynchronous tasks.'
Which revised statement would be most appropriate for Alex's update?
Stand-up updates need to be brief and focused. Alex's initial statement includes an unnecessary recommendation about a message queue. Option 1 directly states what he's doing and links it to the problem, while avoiding extraneous suggestions. Options A and B are too conversational, and option D is incomplete.
14 / 15
Reviewer comment: 'The build failed because the artifact couldn't be found. This is due to the fact that the deployment process didn't correctly update the environment variables.' Which of the following revisions best conveys this issue concisely and professionally?
The original sentence is overly verbose. It uses phrases like 'due to the fact that' and repeats information. The correct answer directly states the root cause: missing or incorrectly configured environment variables. Options B and C are close but still use unnecessary phrasing. Option D is almost identical in its circumlocution.
15 / 15
David: 'The API returned a 500 error. This is attributed to the fact that the database connection timed out.'
Which of the following responses from Emily best avoids circumlocution?
This question tests directness. Option A is the most concise and avoids phrases like 'due to the fact that.' Option B uses unnecessary repetition. Options C and D are overly verbose and still rely on indirect phrasing. The core issue was a database timeout causing a 500 error – this should be stated clearly.
What will I practise in "Avoiding Circumlocution in Technical English — IT Grammar Exercise"?
Practise replacing wordy, roundabout phrases with concise, direct equivalents in design docs, status reports, and recommendations.
How many exercises are in this module?
This module has 15 multiple-choice exercises, each with instant feedback and a full explanation of the correct answer.
Is this exercise free to use?
Yes. Every exercise on CoderSlingo, including this one, is free to use with no account, sign-up, or paywall.
Do I need to create an account to do these exercises?
No account is required. Just click an option to answer — your score for this session is tracked automatically in the progress bar above.
What happens if I choose the wrong answer?
You'll immediately see which answer was correct, plus a full explanation covering the grammar rule and reasoning behind it — mistakes are where most of the learning happens.
Can I retry the exercises if I want a higher score?
Yes — use the "Try again" button on the results screen to reset and go through all the questions again.
Is my progress saved if I close the page?
No. Progress is tracked only for your current visit; reloading or leaving the page resets the counter. This keeps the exercise simple and account-free.
Where can I find more Grammar exercises?
Browse the full Grammar hub for related drills, or check the "Next up" link below to continue with a connected topic.
How is this different from reading an article on the same topic?
Articles explain grammar rules in prose; this exercise tests and reinforces those rules through active recall with immediate feedback — the two work best together.
Who writes these exercises?
Every exercise is written by the CoderSlingo team, drawing on real workplace English used in IT roles, then reviewed for accuracy and clarity.