Hello, and welcome to strategy two sentences, technique to prefer action verbs. So that one is prefer action verbs. When you have a choice between using an action verb or maybe a more generic verb like a B or a half form, or something similar to that use action verbs instead. The explanation here states action verbs add precision and give momentum to sentences, Google lists of action verbs for examples. And so action verbs not only add precision to the sentence, but they also give it more momentum. So that's something that active voice also does.
And so when you use action verbs, you're also more likely to use active voice and if you use active voice, you're more likely to use action verbs. An example was Mary had a baby. Mary had a baby are we talking about Her giving birth here, or are we talking about her having a baby with her. It's a very vague sentence. And so if you say Mary gave birth to a baby, we know exactly what you're talking about. If you say that Mary took her niece with her to the grocery store, we know that she didn't give birth to the baby, but that she had possession of the baby at that time, and the baby was with her when she went to the supermarket.
And so that clarifies, but it also activates the sentence. Another example of that would be the old man would be the old man walk down the street as he held the back. And a correction here to use an active verb would make it more precise. Listen to this because there's several versions of vs. And every time the verb is changed, it changes the meaning of the sentence, but it also very much Clear of your image in your mind of what's going on the old man walk down the street. Well, there's that can mean a lot of things and it's okay. But listen to this wording.
Instead, the old man sauntered down the street as he swung the back, you get a very clear image of a man who's chipper who's happy, he's probably in a good mood. He's going down the street and he has a bag in his hand. So it's a cheerful and upbeat image. Now, listen to this one, the old man staggered down the street as he clutched the back, once again replaced back to action verbs. But in this case, we get an idea of maybe a homeless man, maybe someone who is drunk or something of that nature. So it's a more solid image of someone who is probably under the influence of alcohol and he probably still has the empty bottle in his hand, and you probably picture someone that's more ragged and maybe not as well put together and so you get a very clear image of that one as well.
And it's much more precise. Another example of vague sin it's in terms of verb usage, doors went over the speed limit and got a speeding ticket went go got have is B, all of those can be quite vague. Once again, that doesn't mean don't use them to try to minimize your use of those kinds of generic and vague verbs. replace them just like you do in other situations with other forms of speech with something more precise and more descriptive, and also something that activates the sentence more. This gives you a clearer sense of what is going on doors zoomed by a cop going 100 miles an hour and received a $500 ticket. We definitely understand that especially if we've ever gotten a speeding ticket received a speeding ticket.
And so that is much more precise. zoomed by is more clear than went over the speed limit. We get a clear sense of exactly how fast she was going and then got a speeding ticket she received with And so it's definitely a clear image of what that situation entailed. And so just remember that strategy two is to use active voice unless you're emphasizing the object of the action or there is no other way to express an idea.