Have you ever wondered why your sentences remain soulless even after adorning them with alluring adjectives? Adjectives are supposed to be game changers, right? Well, we don’t have anything against adjectives, but adjectives alone won’t improve the quality of your sentences. Don’t worry! Advanced verbs are here to save the day.
Today, we are going to introduce you to a bunch of vivid verbs which you can use to make your writing stand out. So, before we begin, let’s refresh our memory. What are verbs? A verb is simply a word that expresses a physical action (sing, jump, walk etc.), a mental action (guess, consider, think etc.) or a state of being (to be, to exist, to appear etc.).
How about we learn about these vibrant verbs through an example? Let’s read the story given below:
The hooded figure slowly walked towards us. “Duncan, I am scared,” Lydia spoke in a faint voice. Her fingers were shivering as I took her hand in mine to calm her down. “Let’s run,” I told her. We ran down the hill without stopping. “I guess we are safe now,” I let out a sigh.
“Ahhh!” Lydia was crying out loud. A skeletal hand was holding her neck tightly. I looked at the stranger in disbelief; the stranger let out a scary laugh and said, “You can’t escape the wrath of my master. Wherever you go, I will follow.”
Now, let’s substitute the underlined words with some vivid verbs. Are you ready to see the upgraded version of the story? Here it is:
The hooded figure ambled towards us. “Duncan, I am scared,” Lydia croaked. Her fingers were quivering as I took her hand in mine to soothe her. “Let’s run,” I gasped. We sprinted down the hill without halting. “I presume we are safe now,” a weary sigh escaped me.
“Ahhh!” Lydia was wailing. A skeletal hand was throttling her. I gaped at the stranger; he cackled and said, “You can’t elude the wrath of my master. Wherever you flee, I will accompany.”
Impressive transformation, isn’t it?
Bonus: here are some commonly used verbs and their better replacements —
- Walk – stroll, saunter, amble, wend one’s way, trudge, plod, hike, trek, strike, troop, patrol, roam etc.
- Talk – lecture, orate, address, rant, chat, chatter, gossip, babble, prate etc.
- Eat – consume, devour, ingest, bite, gobble, chew, feed, dine, nibble etc.
- Cry – weep, sob, wail, bawl, lament, snivel, blubber, howl etc.
- Smile – grin, beam, twinkle, grin from ear to ear, smirk etc.
- Laugh – guffaw, chuckle, chortle, cackle, howl, roar, shriek etc.
- Sleep – nap, doze, rest, drowse, trance, slumber, snooze etc.
- Look – glance, gaze, stare, gape, peer, focus, peep, glimpse etc.
We hope you found this article useful. Stay tuned for more.