Verbs Juice Language!

Verbs of being and their alternatives

When college students add voice and energy to their writing, the first and biggest improvements usually come from thinking about verbs. Many students arrive in college using “to be” verbs habitually, as a reflex, no matter what they want a given sentence to do. This section of CATPAW will involve looking at verbs from a number of perspectives, with the goal of using "to be" sparingly and thoughtfully.

In this section, you can either jump right in to analyzing your own (or someone else's) writing by testing your text, or you can start with some background information. These pages capture much of what I say to my students about verbs:

• To Be Verbs defines "to be" verbs and explains why writing teachers often warn against using too many of them.
• Strategies offers ways to generate alternatives to "to be" verbs as part of your writing and revision process.
• Passive Voice defines the often-misunderstood category of passive verbs and why zombies like them so much.
• In Literature notes that many of the most famous and memorable sentences in English literature use "to be" verbs. This page provides literary examples to show great writers using "to be" to form great sentences.