Liveliness: Hard-working Action Verbs and Verbals

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Liveliness Hard-working Action Verbs and Verbals
Action verbs Action verbals Review A Review B
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Action verbs
Strong action verbs bring sentences to life. The
best writers use strong action verbs as
high-octane fuel to power their sentences.
Look at how Jack London uses the verb frowned in
the opening sentence of White Fang
Dark spruce forest frowned on either side of the
frozen waterway.
London uses frowned as a metaphor to show that
the forest is a hostile, threatening place.
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Action verbsMetaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech that makes a
comparison between two seemingly unlike things.
A direct metaphor states that one thing is
another.
The forest is an angry old man.
An indirect metaphor implies a comparison between
two things without stating it directly.
Dark spruce forest frowned. . . .
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Action verbs
Note the vivid verbs that London uses to create
his gloomy setting in the next few sentences of
the opening paragraph.
A recent wind had removed the white covering of
frost from the trees, and they seemed to move
toward each other, black and ominous, in the
decreasing light. A vast silence was over the
land.
The trees had been stripped by a recent wind of
their white covering of frost, and they seemed to
lean toward each other, black and ominous, in the
fading light. A vast silence reigned over the
land.
Using less vivid verb forms takes the life from
the passage.
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Action verbs
The following sentences contain lifeless verbs.
Replace each verb with one that is more lively.
1. A cloud of smoke is above downtown.
2. The hungry cat had its food.
3. Our kayak went through the rapids and traveled
over a small waterfall.
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Action verbs
The following sentences contain lifeless verbs.
Replace each verb with one that is more lively.
1. A cloud of smoke looms above downtown.
possible answer
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Action verbs
The following sentences contain lifeless verbs.
Replace each verb with one that is more lively.
2. The hungry cat gobbled its food.
possible answer
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Action verbs
The following sentences contain lifeless verbs.
Replace each verb with one that is more lively.
3. Our kayak rocketed through the rapids and
plummeted over a small waterfall.
possible answer
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Action verbals
Other action-oriented words in the passage are
not main verbs but verbals.
Verbals are words that are formed from verbs but
do the work of adverbs, adjectives, or nouns.
The trees had been stripped by a recent wind of
their white covering of frost, and they seemed to
lean toward each other, black and ominous, in
thefading light. A vast silence reigned over the
land.
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Action verbals
The three kinds of verbals are participles,
gerunds, and infinitives.

• A participle is a verb form that can be used as
  an adjective.

Present Participle
catch
ing
walk
ing
Past Participle
walk
ed
aught
c
I saw James walking into the store.
The caught fish wriggled off the hook.
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Action verbals

• A gerund is a verb form ending in ing that is
  used as a noun.

Seeing is believing, or so people say.

• An infinitive is a verb form that can be used as
  a noun, an adjective, or an adverb. Most
  infinitives begin with to.

To succeed requires effort.
Noun
Emily is the one to watch.
Adjective
I am eager to try.
Adverb
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Action verbals
If you are confused about the difference between
a verb and a verbal, think of it this way
Changing the tense of a sentence affects verbs
but not verbals.
Grammar Guy Says...
Present tense
Present participle
The clouds darken in the fading light.
Past tense
Present participle
The clouds darkened in the fading light.
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Action verbals
Writers use action verbs and verbals to create
excitement, as in this passage from Mark Twains
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
Action verbs
Verbals
They sprang away, stumbling over roots and among
vines in the dark, no two plunging in the same
direction. A furious blast roared through the
trees, making everything sing as it went. One
blinding flash after another came, and peal on
peal of deafening thunder.
They sprang away, stumbling over roots and among
vines in the dark, no two plunging in the same
direction. A furious blast roared through the
trees, making everything sing as it went. One
blinding flash after another came, and peal on
peal of deafening thunder.
They sprang away, stumbling over roots and among
vines in the dark, no two plunging in the same
direction. A furious blast roared through the
trees, making everything sing as it went. One
blinding flash after another came, and peal on
peal of deafening thunder.
All these verbals are present participles except
the infinitive sing.
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Action verbals
Locate the verbal in each sentence, and replace
it with one that is more lively.
1. I saw hot-air balloons moving over the field.
2. To get the child, the firefighter ran through
smoke and flames.
3. Kim dove and saved the vase from going to the
floor.
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Action verbals
Locate the verbal in each sentence, and replace
it with one that is more lively.
1. I saw hot-air balloons floating over the
field.
possible answer
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Action verbals
Locate the verbal in each sentence, and replace
it with one that is more lively.
2. To grab the child, the firefighter ran through
smoke and flames.
possible answer
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Action verbals
Locate the verbal in each sentence, and replace
it with one that is more lively.
3. Kim dove and saved the vase from smashing to
the floor.
possible answer
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Action verbs and verbals
On Your Own
The following sentences contain lifeless verbs
and verbals. Replace the italicized words to make
each sentence more vivid. 1. Dont open
that! Bill said. 2. The car swerved right,
touching the rail. 3. Fans went to ask the star
for her autograph. 4. Making a sound ominously,
the door opened by itself. 5. This is the
building that the architect made to get
first prize in the contest.
End of Section
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Action verbs and verbals
Possible Answers
The following sentences contain lifeless verbs
and verbals. Replace the italicized words to make
each sentence more lively. 1. Dont open
that! Bill screamed. 2. The car swerved right,
scraping the rail. 3. Fans flocked to ask the
star for her autograph. 4. Creaking ominously,
the door opened by itself. 5. This is the
building that the architect crafted to win
first prize in the contest.
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Review A
Underline each verb, and circle each verbal in
this passage from Mark Twains The Adventures of
Tom Sawyer. Which do you think are the most
lively?
The boys cried out to each other, but the roaring
blasts and the booming thunder blasts drowned
their voices utterly. However, one by one they
straggled in at last and took shelter under the
tent, cold, scared, and streaming with water but
to have company in misery seemed something to be
grateful for. They could not talk, the old sail
flapped so furiously, even if the other voices
would have allowed them.
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Review A
Underline each verb, and circle each verbal in
this passage from Mark Twains The Adventures of
Tom Sawyer. Which do you think are the most
lively?
The boys cried out to each other, but the roaring
blasts and the booming thunder blasts drowned
their voices utterly. However, one by one they
straggled in at last and took shelter under the
tent, cold, scared, and streaming with water but
to have company in misery seemed something to be
grateful for. They could not talk, the old sail
flapped so furiously, even if the other voices
would have allowed them.
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Review B
Using action verbs and verbals, write a paragraph
describing an exciting or frightening event.
Then, identify each verb and verbal that you use.
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Review B
Using action verbs and verbals, write a paragraph
describing an exciting or frightening event.
Then, identify each verb and verbal that you use.
possible answer
Greg dug his ax into the ice and hauled himself
farther up the frozen waterfall. Cold as it was,
he blinked to scatter the sweat streaming into
his eyes. Then, in a startling instant, he heard
a metallic ping as the anchor below him popped
out and clattered down the rope.
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The End