Action verbs rule; “be” verbs are lame.
Action verbs: chase, run, kill, cry, wail, scream, etc.
Be verbs: is, am, are, was, were, be, (this includes linking verbs like appear, feel, seem, look, smell, sound, taste, grow, etc.)
LAME SENTENCE
She is beautiful.
COOL SENTENCE
She walks in beauty.
Notice that the action verb walks gives life and pulse to the woman. Lord Byron wrote this sentence two hundred years ago:
“She walks in beauty like the night of cloudless climes and starry skies.”
LAME SENTENCE
It is morning.
COOL SENTENCE
The morning walks over the hill.
The verb walks gives life to the abstract concept of the morning. William Shakespeare wrote it that way four hundred years ago:
“The morn, in russet mantle clad, walks o’er the dew of yon high eastern hill.”
| LAME | It was cold. |
| COOL | The cold cut through us. |
| LAME | The teacher seemed angry. |
| COOL | The teacher bellowed with rage. |
Action Verbs Quiz
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