6 Overused Words & What to Use Instead

Hello learners. Today I want to share 6 words that are WAY overused in spoken English. You may have noticed them when you were talking to a native speaker. A lot of learners learn these words and early in their quest to sound more "native" and they try and use them all too often. My advice: Don't.

Literally - This word means that something happened exactly as described.

Example: "I literally laughed so hard that I died."

So this means that you should be dead, but you obviously are not. What to say instead:

"I died laughing." When we hear this we know it is completely figurative, so there is no need to use literally.

2. Basically - This is used to say that a statement summarizes the essential aspects of a story.

Example: " Basically, I had a terrible time."

There is just no benefit in saying "basically." What to say instead:

"I had a terrible time." Yep, that's it!

3. Like - This word has many meanings, common ones are: Similarity between two things, a meaningless filler in speech and to convey feelings toward something.

Similarity: "This tastes like chicken."

Enjoyment: "I like this song!"

Don't say: "I was like yeah and he was like what? Then I was like...

It can go on forever, trust me. So annoying.

3 more overused words are:

4. Actually - Similar to really and used the same.

5. Awesome - impressive or great.

6. Nice - something that is pleasant.

Actually is kind of a useless word that you don't have to use in a sentence. Awesome and nice have so many words that are more descriptive, sound better and mean the same thing.

I will talk about awesome and nice in later collumns.

I hope you enjoyed this collumn and I will see you next time!

Here is a good inforgraphic on this subject that you can use:

http://www.grammarcheck.net/overused-words/

Interested in learning lessons like this? Check out my profile and browse through my lessons. If there is one you like you can make a request. I hope to see you soon!

Brian R.