Discuss About? 10 Verbs That Do Not Want the Word You Are About to Add

VoyaLang Team

October 28, 20266 min read

On this page

The extra word that gives you away

"In this essay I will discuss about the causes." It feels right, and there is a reason for that. In most languages something belongs in that slot, so your ear puts one there. English does not, because discuss already contains about. You are not guessing when you write it, you are translating a habit, which is exactly why nobody ever corrects it out of themselves.

6 verbs that want nothing after them

discuss

This essay will discuss about the two main causes.

This essay will discuss the two main causes.

Discuss means talk about, so the about is there twice. The same goes for the noun: a discussion of the causes, or a discussion about them, but never a discuss about.

contact

Please contact with me if you need the file.

Please contact me if you need the file.

Contact takes the person directly. This one turns up constantly in General Training letters, which is the worst place for it, because the whole task is addressed to a reader.

attend

All staff must attend to the training session.

All staff must attend the training session.

Attend to exists and means look after or deal with, so the wrong version says something real and quite different. That is what makes this one worse than a simple slip.

mention

The report mentioned about the rising cost.

The report mentioned the rising cost.

Mention, describe, explain and answer all take the thing directly. Explain is the sneaky one: you explain something TO someone, so the preposition goes with the person, never with the thing.

emphasize

The writer emphasizes on the need for change.

The writer emphasizes the need for change.

Emphasize takes the point directly. If you want the preposition version, the phrase is puts emphasis on, using the noun. Two shapes, and only one of them takes on.

enter

Fewer women enter into engineering.

Fewer women enter engineering.

Enter into does exist, but only for agreements and negotiations: enter into a contract. For a room, a career or a market, the verb stands alone.

Four more to fix today

marry someone, not marry with someone.

answer the question, not answer to the question.

approach the problem, not approach to the problem.

reach a decision, not reach to a decision.

The trap that catches careful students

Several of these words DO take a preposition, just not as verbs. The country lacks water, and there is a lack of water. You approach the problem, and you have an approach to it. The writer emphasizes the point, and the writer places emphasis on it. So the rule is not attached to the word, it is attached to the job the word is doing in that sentence. Verb takes nothing, noun takes its usual partner.

Now the opposite list, before you overcorrect

These always need one

listen to, depend on, wait for, apply for, belong to, consist of, result in, focus on, participate in, complain about, believe in, succeed in.

These change meaning with one

attend a meeting is to be there, attend to a problem is to deal with it. Look at is to direct your eyes, look after is to care for.

When in doubt, keep the verb simple

If you cannot remember whether a verb takes one, use a plainer verb you are certain of. A correct simple sentence beats a risky one, and nobody is counting which verbs you chose.

Why this small thing is so visible

Most errors hide. They sit in the middle of a long sentence where a reader moving quickly can pass over them. This one does not. It stands right beside a verb that appears in the first line of thousands of essays, in the exact place an examiner is already looking. Ten minutes on this list removes an error that would otherwise appear in your opening sentence, on every essay you write.

See whether yours is in the opening line

Most students who do this do it in the first sentence, every time, because that is where discuss and examine live. Write your next essay in VoyaLang and read the corrections from the top. If the very first line carries one of these, you have found the single highest-value fix on your whole list, and it takes one deletion. Create a free account and check your next essay in about a minute.

Article #0048