#verb

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Basics: Descriptive Verbs

A verb is a word that’s used to describe an action.

Descriptive verbs - (or strong verbs) are single-word actions that add to the tableau in the reader’s mind, giving it a boost of color and energy.

In many cases, an engaging, vivid verb is more concise and telling than a straightforward, overused one.

The man ran quickly toward the smoke, versus 

The man sprinted toward the smoke.

Weak verbs are simply common ones—words that describe the bare minimum of the action. Sometimes that’s the best way to keep your writing clean and direct, but it can also lead to a lack of color, or personality.

Types of Descriptive Verbs

The most powerful verbs evoke imagery and emotion in the action of the verb itself. A dog doesn’t just eat its food—it gobbles it. The glass doesn’t just break—it shatters.

Questions to consider when replacing your verbs:

Verbs of movement: Movement is especially ripe for descriptive words. Movements communicate how your characters feel, what they want, and how they present themselves to the world. Is your character merely walking along from point a to b? Or do they project more attitude with a saunter or perhaps swagger? Are they in a skipping mood? These movement verbs can also denote a sense of place, and urgency: Depending on the terrain, perhaps they plod through mud or stagger over jagged rocks. Suspicious characters might slink away into the darkness, or scamper just out of reach.

Verbs of stillness: In real life, stillness is never entirely devoid of movement, and is equally revealing. A nervous character doesn’t merely sit, they perch on the edge of their seat. A rude character might slouch in their chair. A character who has just received terrible news may slump on the couch.

Verbs for speech and expression: With dialogue attribution, you could write an entire novel using only “said,” without having to resort to more descriptive verbs like “shouted,” “cried,” or “whimpered.” The best answer is a balance: try to keep your language from jarring the reader out of the story, but considering your character’s intent when searching for the right descriptive verb in dialogue also allows you to quickly deliver more information to the reader. When is a laugh so cruel it becomes more of a snicker, or so unguarded it bursts forth as a guffaw? Muttering a word under the breath might be a sign of dissent, while a whimper is one of surrender. Create volume in your dialogue by introducing sound-oriented synonyms, like whispers or shouts.

When to Use Descriptive Verbs

The best verbs help you hone your prose to give you the effect you wish to achieve. Think about the tone do you want to set—what feelings or mood do you want to evoke? What kind of language will best deliver the story you want to tell?

Reading your work aloud is an excellent way to both hear the sonic effects of your prose and catch awkward repeated sounds or other unintended effects. Read through your writing and make a note of where things feel too slow, or stale.

Where are the moments where your prose stalls out? Highlight all the verbs you’ve used in that section and find stronger words to heighten the tension or enhance the mood of the scene.

Reasons to Use Descriptive Verbs in Writing

Using descriptive verbs is especially useful when considering pacing; active verbs help anchor your writing in the present tense, contributing to the exciting (or suspenseful, emotional, moody, exuberant) tone you might be going for.

Weak verbs, in general, are often supported by adverbs of manner (those descriptive words that end in “-ly”). Good descriptive verbs rid your sentences of the need for too many adverbs, and can also keep state-of-being verbs (like am, is, are, and was, which lead to passive voice) in check.

Source ⚜ More: Writing Notes & References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

[slavic-roots-western-mind]

The 然's

突然，虽然，忽然. and the other 然's can often get mixed up, so here's a quick explanation of some of the most common ones!

突然 (Túrán): This means suddenly or unexpectedly

居然 (Jūrán): This kind of means suddenly, but more in the sense of "surprisingly" or to suggest disbelief at something that happened.

忽然 (Hūrán): This also means suddenly or unexpectedly, but it has a more stronger connotation.

既然 (Jìrán): This is a conjunction meaning "since" or "now that"

既然the weather is great, let's go out!

既然 you aren't busy, let's go watch a movie.

不然 (Bùrán): This means "otherwise" or "or else";

You should study, 不然 you won't do well on the exam.

虽然 (Suīrán): This means although or even though.

虽然 I'm not good at singing, I still like to go to the karaoke.

当然 (Dāngrán): 当然 means certainly or definitely and can be used as a reply:

Can you help me with A? 当然!

自然 (Zìrán): This can mean nature or naturally.

China's 自然 is very beautiful.

She speaks Chinese 得很自然.

仍然 (Réngrán): This can mean "still" or "yet".

I仍然 haven't read that book.

依然 (Yīrán): Similar to 仍然, this also means still" or "yet" but it's usually used in more formal and literary works, whereas 仍然 is more often used in spoken language.

果然 (Guǒrán): 果然 can be used to mean "indeed" or "as expected"

This movie is 果然 interesting.

竟然 (Jìngrán): This is an adverb used to suggest surprise or something unexpected.

He竟然forgot her birthday.

显然 (Xiǎnrán): This means "clearly" or "obviously".

This soup 显然 hot.

偶然 (Ǒurán): This means "accidentally" or "by chance".

We 偶然 met at the same cafe.

How many other 然's do you know about? Drop a comment!

[girlactionfigure]

australians_for_israel

"To do the same horrible act over and over expecting different results and then playing the victim when it backfires"

[german-with-kruczus]

166/365 - 08.06.2025

einfallen (Verb, trennbar: ein·fallen) invade, collapse, come to mind

Mir ist gerade eingefallen, dass ich noch Milch kaufen muss.

die Erfahrung (Nomen) experience, expert knowledge

Die Ärzte haben Erfahrung in Menschen zu retten.

die Möglichkeit (Nomen) possibility, chance, option

Ich habe die Möglichkeit, nächsten Sommer nach Japan zu reisen.

[toki-pona-daily]

laso

noun: the color blue, or green, and their shades

adjective: blue or green

verb: to make something blue or green

Examples:

o lukin e laso suli. ("Look at the sky [lit. 'the big blue'].")

kasi li laso. ("Plants are green.")

jan li kama laso tan moku. ("The person became green because of the food.")

mi jo e tomo laso. ("I have a blue room.")

sina moku e telo nasa laso? ("Did you drink the blue cocktail [lit. 'the blue strange water']?")

o laso e suno! ("Let the light become green!")

sitelen pona:

[oxford-dictionary-offical]

Word of the day:

Speel

Verb

A misspelling of the word 'spell' made originally by @duck-offical in the Offical Officalverse Discord server on accident. This is considered an "offical officalverse word"

"I speel it as pound"

Similar: Spelking, misspelled by @red-solo-cup-offical

Origin: Spell

Verb

Write or name the letters that form (a word) in correct sequence.

"Dolly spelled her name"

Be a sign or characteristic of.

"She had the chic, efficient look that spells Milan"

[damailbox]

November 2005

[schar-aac]

"organise"

image: four red squares in a neat grid and three blue circles in a neat column. there's also a few of each jumbled together. arrows go from the jumbled shapes to the neatly organised shapes

[tha-wrecka-stow]

[daily-cool-words]

Today's word of the day is...

Truncated

[Verb]

Definition: Cut short.

Example Sentence: Mika frowned, mourning the loss of their truncated career.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Refresher: Verb Tenses

Only 2 tenses are conveyed through the verb alone: present (“sing") and past (“sang").

Most English tenses, as many as thirty of them, are marked by other words called auxiliaries.

Understanding the 6 basic tenses allows writers to re-create much of the reality of time in their writing.

Simple Present: They walk.

Present Perfect: They have walked.

Simple Past: They walked.

Past Perfect: They had walked.

Future: They will walk.

Future Perfect: They will have walked.

12 MAIN TENSES

Simple present: She writes every day.

Present progressive: She is writing right now.

Simple past: She wrote last night.

Past progressive: She was writing when he called.

Simple future: She will write tomorrow.

Future progressive: She will be writing when you arrive.

Present perfect: She has written Chapter 1.

Present perfect progressive: She has been writing for 2 hours.

Past perfect: She had written Chapter 3 before she started Chapter 4.

Past perfect progressive: She had been writing for 2 hours before her friends arrived.

Future perfect: She will have written Chapter 4 before she writes Chapter 5.

Future perfect progressive: She will have been writing for 2 hours by the time her friends come over.

PERFECT TENSES

Usually, the perfect tenses are the hardest to remember. Here’s a useful tip: all of the perfect tenses are formed by adding an auxiliary or auxiliaries to the past participle, the third principal part.

1st principal part (simple present): ring, walk

2nd principal part (simple past): rang, walked

3rd principal part (past participle): rung, walked

In the above examples, will or will have are the auxiliaries.

Most common auxiliaries: be, being, been, can, do, may, must, might, could, should, ought, shall, will, would, has, have, had.

Sources: 1 2 ⚜ More: Writing Basics & Refreshers

[slavic-roots-western-mind]

The 头 character

It's been a while since I last did a character breakdown, and now it's 头 turn.

头 (T��u) - Head

实 (Shí) - Real, honest, true, reality

买 (Mǎi) - To buy, purchase

卖 (Mài) - To sell, to betray, to sell out

读 (Dú) - To read, to study, to attend school/university

续 (Xù) - to continue, to carry on

赎 (Shú) - to redeem

渎 (Dú) - a ditch (gutter), to annoy/trouble someone

牍 (Dú) - document, writing tablet

犊 (Dú) - A calf

荬 (Mǎi) - a name of a plant

觌 (Dí) - face to face, to see someone (not very widely used)

黩 (Dú) - to darken, to insult, to dishonour, corrupt

[dbergantin]

© Devis Bergantin, Verbo fossile, 2025, porzione di disegno digitalizzato, databending e fotoritocco, 1241 x 993 pixel

© Devis Bergantin, Fossil verb, 2025, digitised drawing portion, databending and photo editing, 1241 x 993 pixels

[german-with-kruczus]

175/365 - 17.05.2025

vorstellen - introduce 👩👨

Anna hat mich Tom vorgestellt.

gültig - valid

Der Führerschein (driver's license) 🚗 ist nicht mehr gültig.

[toki-pona-daily]

luka

noun: the arm or hand

verb: to touch (with your hand)

number: five

Examples:

mi pakala e luka mi. ("I broke my hand.")

luka pi soweli ni li lili mute! ("This animal's paw is so small!")

sina o luka ala e moku. ("You shouldn't touch the food [alt. 'Don't touch the food'].")

ona li jo e poki pi nanpa luka. ("He has five boxes [lit. 'boxes of hand number'].")

mi sona e ma ni sama monsi pi luka mi. ("I know this place like the back of my hand.")

sitelen pona: