Word Choice, Study notes of Grammar and Composition

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TRAIT

PRACTICE:

WORD CHOICE

PRACTICE FOR:

• Using action verbs
• Using descriptive adjectives
• Using specific words

More Action!

A verb is a word that describes an action. Some verbs are vague; they don’t help you see the

action clearly. Specific verbs have more action; they tell you exactly what is happening. This

activity will help you think of verbs that show more action.

A. Above each underlined verb, write a verb that shows more action. The first is done as

an example.

sprints ↓

1. Jeannie goes to the finish line and wins the race.

2. Dwight goes slowly down the hall.

3. Jan goes, “It’s your turn to wash the dishes!”

4. Liz angrily took her diary from her brother.

5. Oscar carefully took his newborn baby to his proud wife.

6. Sam took his mother to her birthday party.

7. Ron said into Steve’s ear, “Don’t tell her!”

8. “Shut the door!” said the angry child.

9. “I’m so happy,” the winner said as she held up her trophy.

10. Sally makes her own clothes from her own patterns.

11. This oven makes a perfect cake all the time.

12. Rio makes himself run two miles every day.

B. Find the verbs in this story and underline the ones you think are vague. Over those

verbs, write other verbs that show more action.

Cliff is taking Denise for a ride in his new car. He moves fast down the

highway. Suddenly Denise says, “Look out!” A truck moves into their lane, right in

front of them. Cliff put his foot on the brake – hard. The car goes first to the right,

then to the left. “Don’t use the brake!” Denise says. Cliff takes his foot off the brake

and gets control of the car. “We’re safe,” Cliff goes to Denise.

Using Words That Are More Descriptive Some descriptive words are used so often or can have so many different meanings that they do not give exact descriptions. These words usually can be replaced with synonyms that are more exact. →Use your own vocabulary, a thesaurus, or a dictionary to replace each underlined word with a more precise synonym.

1. We had such a (nice) ___________________________ time in the mountains.
2. Everyone admired her (cute) ___________________________ dress.
3. She was such a (good) ________________________________ worker that she had many job offers.
4. Those children are so (bad) _____________________________that baby‐sitters never return.
5. He (said) _______________________ to the operator that the house was on fire.
6. Seeing the car accident was a (bad) _________________________ experience.
7. We were (happy) ______________________ to see the gifts under the Christmas tree.
8. His parents were (sad) _____________________ to see the poor report card.
9. We had a really (great) ________________________ party in the park.
10. The (pretty) _______________________ sunset made us very happy.
11. The children (went) _______________________ into the house to see the new puppy.
12. My father liked my (nice) __________________________ idea very much.
13. The ice cream was so (good) ________________________ that we asked for more.
14. The man (said) ___________________ that he was very upset.
15. The muddy dog (came) _____________________ through the open door.
16. The bride looked (pretty ) ___________________ in her wedding dress.
17. The man (ran) __________________ to the burning house as fast as he could to see if anyone was in the house.

Good Sentences

Look at the following examples. How are they different from each other? How have the words

in dark type been changed?

I. Luis works in a very modern factory. The building is new and modern, and it has

all the most modern equipment.

II. Luis works in a very modern factory. The building is new, and it has all the most

up‐to‐date equipment.

Sometimes you repeat individual words unnecessarily, especially when you are adding

supporting details to the main idea. If your main idea is that the factory is modern, you want

the details to tell how that the factory is modern. The trick is not to keep repeating the word

modern. Sometimes you can take it out altogether. Sometimes you need to find a synonym as

a substitute.

Directions: Rewrite each group of sentences to avoid repeating words. Remember that you

can either take out a repeated word or find a synonym to use instead. There is more than one

way to rewrite each item.

1. I remember August 14 best of all because it was a perfect day. The weather was sunny and perfect, and the beach looked perfect as we stepped onto the sand.

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2. A terrible disaster occurred. It is hard to imagine anything more terrible. Robert had made a terrible mistake.

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3. Next year will be very important. It will be filled with important decisions. The important steps I take then will affect the rest of my life.

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4. This article contains good ideas for saving money. It explains a good, easy way to find bargains when you shop. It also has some good tips on putting your money to work for you.

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