What's wrong with "is able to"?
The phrase is able to is perfectly idiomatic in English. Nothing wrong with that, eh?
Well, no. It will do in spoken English, where we can’t comb through our words once they fly out of our mouths. But written English is different from spoken English, because we can edit the stuff! Best of all, we can cut verbosity, saving ink, paper, the planet, and the reader’s time.
In about 99.9% of occurrences, is able to is verbose and unnecessary. It’s a rare occasion that this wordy locution actually serves a purpose. Replace it with can or could, or simply delete it.
Example:
When relatively affluent women enter the labor market, they are able to use some of their income to purchase the domestic services no longer produced in the home. . . .
Better, if Author meant to say it’s a fact that affluent women workers use their income to hire domestic workers:
When relatively affluent women enter the labor market, they use some of their income to purchase the domestic services no longer produced in the home.
Or, if Author meant to emphasize that affluent women may choose to use some of their earnings to hire domestic workers:
When relatively affluent women enter the labor market, they can use some of their income to purchase the domestic services no longer produced in the home.
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