In contrast, strong verbs add action, vitality, color, and zest. In academic writing, you can refer to ideas or research of others by using reporting verbs, e. Put muscle into your writing by using strong verbs wikieducator. Instead of making your writing more descriptive and clearer only with adjectives and adverbs, you should improve your writing skills by using multiple strong verbs, too. Even if you keep your original sentence structure, you can eliminate weak verbs like be from your drafts and choose more vivid and precise actions verbs. Why you need strong verbs when you write writers write. You should replace an adverb and a verb with a strong verb if you can. This work is licensed under a creative commons attributionnoncommercialnoderivs 2. Strong verbs weak verbs apply conduct coordinate facilitate create design collaborate establish expand reorganize overhaul promote write analyze classify investigate research discover complete assist help aid deal with handle gain receive learn seek out set up enhance see reverse side for more verbs. Strong verbs for essay writing allendale school district.
The writer of family guy juxtaposes the characters brian and peter to enhance their differing intelligence levels. Oftentimes in academic writing, you decide to use outside sources to enhance your argument and make it credible. The weakest verbs you can replace in your writing are to be verbs. And do you wonder why your draft text seems a tad limp in comparison. The important thing is that these weaker verbs are not the only ones you feel comfortable using. When an author uses strong verbs a readers senses come alive. Active verbs list agree nod consent comply concur accept acknowledge consent appear show flash materialize surface bloom flower manifest surface emerge develop spawn arrive arise ask request question inquire pose proposition solicit plead crossexamine demand grill interrogate needle query quiz attack assault strike ambush assail rush storm. Bland verbs, such as uses, says, and relates, lead the writer into summary. Strong verbs anchor chart this is to be printed and displayed as a reminder to writers. The verb selections you make will mean the difference between plain, placid prose and compelling, colorful compositions. Together the verb and the prepositions create a phrase with a new meaning.
One handout per student then, have your students work together in pairs to discuss what happened next in the story. Let verbs power your writing and millions of other books are available for instant access. Use strong action words a choice action word can really impact whether a reader takes action or not. Reporting verbs help the reader understand the relevance of the sources in your writing and can help you to strengthen your argument. Making deeper characters for rpgs, storywriting, creative writing. It can be a challenge to insert these sources smoothly without taking away from your voice as a writer. The ultimate strong verbs list thatll supercharge your writing. In academic writing, you will often need to refer to the research of others, also called secondary sources. I said, weve been doing a lot of expository writing about animals. Use the simple present argueargues, isare to discuss general truths, habitual actions, works of literature, and an authors ideas or arguments. Good writing is about wellchosen nouns and strong verbs, not adjectives and adverbs. A week of strong verbs activities to help your students use strong verbs in their writing. Verbs such as walk and talk dont really help the reader to build a vivid mental picture of the action being performed. Without the precise strong verb, our writing can be boring or send the wrong message.
First drafts are full of weak verbs, and weak verbs make your writing limp, flabby, and listless. Keep your purpose in mind as you choose the best tense. Npcs or interesting protagonists, antagonists, or bbeg vivid verb list for students bing images. Download free pdf english books from phrasal verbs a ot z pdf at easypacelearning. Avoid using phrasal verbs academic writing does not normally include phrasal verbs. Youll find this task is easier to do if you use the active voice more often than the passive voice. Worksheet 1 explains what a strong verb is, with examples of recasting sentences with weak verbs into sentences with strong verbs. Verb tenses in academic writing home the writing center. An english irregular verb list free pdf download improve your english by learning and memorizing the common irregular verbs in english below. Editing for strong verbs school of liberal arts iupui.
English books for download pdf phrasal verbs a ot z pdf. Principal verbs are verbs that can stand alone and, by itself, express and act or state. Some verbs are weaker in their function, while others are strong. You must connect the author clearly to the information you are using. Students can keep these sheets in their writers journal or notebook.
These advanced tenses were mentioned briefly in helping verbs, and they came up again in participles. Advanced verb tenses now weve mastered the different pieces that we need to understand in order to discuss some more advanced tenses. Learn which verb tenses are typically difficult for you, and proofread specifically for those errors. As we discuss verbs, we will learn that this isnt always the case, but it is a helpful phrase to remember just what verbs are. Now, keep in mind that weak verbs are absolutely okay to use on occasion. As a matter of fact, the most powerful writers use verbs quite effectively to illustrate their writing. Strong verbs are action verbs that are specific and easily visualized by the reader. Stevenson, patrick henry high, 2005 summarizing, rather than analyzing, is one of the chief pitfalls of ap rhetorical analysis.
As always, however, be careful about using a thesaurus. One way of making your writing more interesting is to use strong verbs instead of neutral ones. Exercises in both worksheets give students the opportunity of writing complete sentences by using strong verbs rather than weak ones. The ultimate strong verbs list thatll supercharge your. First grade lesson learning to recognize and use strong verbs. First drafts often require an injection of power and pizzazz. In the strong example above, we not only combined sentences to eliminate. Verbs in academic writing in the same way that a story needs active, dynamic verbs to keep the plot moving, academic essays too will benefit from the correct use of verbs to help you present your ideas. So, the secret to writing with gusto is to choose stronger verbs. You are likely to come across more verbs for the different. Reporting verbs neutral tentative strong in favour strong against. Theres no quicker win for you and your manuscript than ferreting out and eliminating flabby verbs and replacing them with vibrant ones. Complete english irregular verb list free pdf download.
Reporting verbs in academic writing, it is necessary to refer to the research of others using reporting verbs. You might want to write a few words on the board for the students to use in their writing. If you misplaced your copy of any of these given in class, please help yourself to another copy here. This list of 180 strong verbs will help you get started on the road to colorful, dazzling writing. One of the final stages of revising a draft is editing for strong verbs. The following verbs are helpful as a means of showing how an example or quote in literature supports an idea or interpretation. A great revision strategy is to look for ways to make verbs more descriptive. Auxiliary verbs also called helping verbs or modal verbs are used with principal verbs to form a verb phrase that indicates mood, tense, or voice. Students should be exposed to wellwritten literature that acts as a model for their wri. List for new english strong verbs for academic writing. Any time you use one of these verbs be, is, are, was, been, being, were, has, have, having, had ask yourself if the sentence should be rewritten. They should each write exactly the same words on their own papers.
I also told my students how using strong verbs pertain to their own writing. Strong verbs are action verbs that are specific and easily visualized by the. The list of strong verbs to make your content pop, fizz. Use the tips in this video to give your writing volume, shine, and body. Some verbs put stalled subjects into motion while other verbs help to clarify the subjects. The point is that good writing is more about wellchosen nouns and strong verbs than it is about adjectives and adverbs, regardless what you were told as a kid. Reporting verbs for introducing authors in academic writing, you will need to refer to the research of others and incorporate this information into your writing.
Check out this recently published list of 277 action words that supercharge your writing. The table below list useful verbs that are very common in academic texts. Strong verbs invigorate narrative and deliver precise meanings without increasing word count. If you place the author before the information in your writing, then reporting verbs can be used to. This list of strong action verbs is a handy reference to use when a better word is needed. I said, if authors use ordinary, or weak verbs, than the reader wont be able to make a clear picture in their minds. If nouns are the skeleton of a composition, verbs are the muscles. Other weak verbs include basic forms of any verb, like run, walk, say, sit. You may reproduce it for noncommercial use if you use the entire handout. Feel free to add other interesting, vivid verbs you find in books. This campaign was designed to help teens get and stay active, but it also provided a helpful soundbite for defining verbs. We discuss why you why you need strong verbs when you write, and give you examples.
Mar 07, 2012 is your writing dull, overworked, flat, lifeless. Because of this, we have created an anchor chart filled with alternatives to using the word said in writing. Verbs are often called the action words of language. Students dont just need to be able to identify strong verbs. The main culprits include the verbs to be and to have. What are academic verbs exactly university of manitoba. But verbs dont have to surrender all the fun and emotional power to adjectivesthe words that traditionally paint the pictures in our heads. Instead of said said is one of the most overused verbs in writing.
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