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Examples of tautological expressions

A common form of tautology is created by using two forms of the same word in the same construction. The British supermarket Tesco sells a brand of lemon thyme which it describes as having an "aromatic aroma".[citation needed] Synonyms may also produce a tautology; "free gift" is tautologous because a gift, by definition, is something given without charge. Other such examples of tautology include "sufficiently adequate" and "new innovation"; an "added bonus", or an "unsolved mystery".

Tautology is present in sayings such as, "suddenly, without warning", "forward planning" or "planning ahead", and "was first introduced". Another common example is "reason why" or "the reason is because..." which contains repetition because a "reason" is already by definition a description of why something happens. Compare "This is the reason why it happens", "This is the reason it happens" and "This is why it happens".

In some phrases such as "I can see it with my own eyes" or "I made it with my own hands" the tautology is a rhetorical device that adds emphasis, as double negatives used to do. Expressions such as "all in all" or being able to "read and write" (to have literacy) are not strictly tautological but siamese twins.