The difference between strong and weak verbs can be a little confusing. It depends on which definition you use.
However, understanding the three different types makes it easier.
First is the linguistic basis, which is the grammatical structure and etymology of the verbs.
Second, the functional contrast between active and static verbs focuses on their role and impact within a sentence.
Lastly, the literary definition emphasizes a verb’s expressive power and stylistic significance.
What are strong verbs?
Action verbs are strong in general, and we use them to make verbs more interesting in writing and speaking.
But it is worth taking a quick English refresher class before we start. Then, you can understand the three different definitions of a strong verb.
1. The linguistic strong verb
The linguistic definition is based on the Germanic language’s strong verb.
It defines strong as those that change the stem vowel of the present verb to form the past tense and past participle. These Germanic verbs are usually irregular and often have long vowel sounds.
Weak verbs are regular and do not modify the stem of the verb. They only add s for the present third-person singular and ed to the present tense form for the simple past and past participle.
For example, the verb drive is strong because its past forms are drove and driven.
Other examples are:
- be, was/were, been
- drink, drank, drunk
- fall, fell, fallen
- know, knew, known
- see, saw, seen
- shake, shook, shaken
- swim, swam, swum
- write, wrote, written
- fly, flew, flown
- go, went, gone
- ride, rode, ridden
- shrink, shrank, shrunk
- rise, rose, risen
But the regular verb look is weak because its past forms are both looked and looked.
But don’t panic too much about this because only about two hundred irregular modern English verbs are linguistically strong.
2. Active vs. static verbs
A static verb describes a state and usually lasts for a long time. There is no sense of movement. So, you would rarely use it in a continuous or progressive form.
Verbs such as be, have, know, seem, agree, feel, hear, and want are almost always static.
Active verbs naturally describe an action. You very often use these in the progressive form.
It’s easy to think of many, including run, running, cry, crying, throw, throwing, push, pushing, dance, dancing, sing, singing, drink, drinking, and write and writing.
Active verbs are often preferred in most forms of writing because they are much more descriptive in a reader’s mind.
3. The literary basis
The third and most common definition of a strong verb is the one we use in writing and literature.
In this case, a strong verb that is precise and highly descriptive replaces a weak verb that is not.
The verb open is a weak verb. But unlatch, unlock, and unbolt are strong.
Strong verbs add more punch
What is a strong verb?
The biggest difference between a strong verb form and a weak one in writing is its clarity of purpose and descriptive ability.
Whether you are writing an article or a novel, your choice of powerful verbs can make all the difference to the quality of your text.
When you use powerful verbs, you avoid using adverbs to describe how the action of your verb is performed.
Examples of replacing weak verbs
Using one very strong verb that can do the same job is much better. A weak verb is often one that needs the help of an adverb to give it a more precise meaning to the reader.
You can avoid this trap by making better verb selection.
Look at these examples:
He walked casually into the bar.
He ambled into the bar.
She walked gingerly towards the car.
She limped towards the car.
Tom drove home as fast as possible.
Tom sped home.
Ralph gleefully accepted the chance to enter the cooking competition.
Ralph jumped at the chance to enter the cooking competition.
Common weak verbs
Here are five common weak verbs that are often used in fiction writing.
Look at the alternative verbs that are much stronger and far more expressive and rarely need to use an adverb.
Walked – strolled, ambled, trudged, plodded, tramped, marched, strode, trooped, wandered, prowled, footslogged
Ate – devoured, ingested, gobbled, gulped, swallowed, munched, chomped, feasted, dined, pigged (out)
Saw – glanced, admired, glimpsed, spied, examined, peeked, beheld, spotted, distinguished, sighted, viewed, observed
Ran – sprinted, raced, darted, rushed, dashed, hastened, scurries, scampered, hared, bolted, careered, charged
Said – screamed, uttered, mumbled, muttered, shouted, sobbed, whispered, insisted, pleaded
Note: Said has many better synonyms. In fact, there are 350 other words for said, so you are spoiled for choice.
The gerund can be weak
Another weak verb form is the gerund. Compare these sentences below and decide which types of verbs have a stronger sense of meaning to you.
Arriving home late, he went straight to bed.
He arrived home late and went straight to bed.
Having had an awful day at the office, Sue opened a bottle of red.
Sue had an awful day at the office, so she opened a bottle of red.
After getting fired, Roger began searching for a new job
Roger started his job hunt soon after he got fired.
Avoid the gerund, if possible. You can use a past or present verb form to define the action with more clarity.
Onomatopoeic verbs
The word onomatopoeia derives from Greek. It means that a verb is formed from the sound it represents.
In other words, the verb sounds very much like the action. These are powerful verbs because they are truly descriptive. As classes of verbs, these are particularly effective in fiction writing.
The sound of thunder boomed and cracked across the night sky.
Everyone sizzled during the long heatwave.
The elephant banged and crashed its way through the village.
The F1 driver revved his engine and zoomed away from the starting grid
John coughed as he zipped up his jacket.
Here are some common examples of English verbs that express a sound.
Water sounds – splash, squirt, drizzle, sprinkle, plop, slosh, spray
Vocal sounds – grunt, giggle, growl, belch, chatter, blurt, moan, blab
Collisions – slap, bam, clatter, click, clap, clink, thud, thump, jingle
Air sounds – whoosh, whizz, whip, swish, swoosh, waft, whiff, whisper, poof
Animal sounds – baa, buzz, cheep, meow, purr, cluck, tweet, warble, hiss
It is not a rule
Of course, you’ll find it impossible to replace every verb you use with a strong one.
You can’t write anything that makes sense without using static verbs like, to be, to have, and to know.
However, the key to good writing is identifying when you can strengthen and tighten your writing with better verb selection.
You don’t need to have a strong verb list as a reference. You’ll probably never look at it anyway.
All you need to do is take a moment to think about your choice of verb. Is there a better, more concise, and more descriptive alternative you could use for your action verbs?
How can you find better verbs?
Using a thesaurus is the best way to improve your strong and weak verb vocabulary selection.
If you are looking for an alternative and more powerful verb to replace the verb drink, you will find swallow, gulp down, quaff, swill, and guzzle.
But who has time today to grab such a heavy book from the bookshelf and wade through it page by page? If indeed you have one to grab, that is.
The fastest way for writers today to find suggestions is to use an online tool.
It is an absolute walk in the park if you have a premium subscription with Grammarly or Prowritingaid.
Both of these popular grammar checkers have an excellent thesaurus that can instantly provide plenty of suitable synonyms.
All you need to do is click on a verb, and you’ll get an extensive list of alternative verbs. You can see how they work in the two images below.
Synonyms displayed in Grammarly.
Synonyms using Prowritingaid.
Both tools are quick and easy to use. They can help you find and choose much better synonyms and verbs as you write online or in a word processor.
From their suggestions to replace find, the verbs discover, spot, and locate might be the best choices.
If you don’t have access to an online tool, many sites like thesaurus.com can help you find better verbs and synonyms.
How to select better verbs
If you are writing fiction, you will use the past tense most of the time.
You should select your verbs based on their powerful descriptive qualities.
You can also take a hint from the linguistic angle and note that verbs with irregular past and past participles are also good choices.
If you select well, you can help your writing to be more show than tell because you will be cutting down on your use of weak adverbs.
An excellent way to avoid telling is to check the frequency of your use of adverbs. Try to replace them to add movement directly with your verbs.
If you have too many adverbs or adjectives, try to rethink your verb by finding a much stronger alternative.
Another tip is to consider using phrasal verbs. Verbs like look up, sit down, move on, and get over give an indication of movement from their particles. But be careful that they don’t affect the register of your writing.
You usually write in the present tense in an article or blog post. You need to get your message across with powerful active verbs.
When you want readers to purchase a product or service, replacing the verb buy with get, grab, pick up, snap up, or invest in might be more beneficial.
For an article offering information to learn, you could replace learn with discover, find out, master, or get to know, which could all work better.
Summary
Excellent writing is always when you make good vocabulary and grammar choices. It is especially true for your choice of verbs.
When writing or editing, take your time to examine the verbs you use. Check your dialogue tags carefully for weak reporting verbs with adverbs.
Can you find better alternatives that are more descriptive?
Your answer will be yes, a lot of the time.
But don’t get carried away with your verb selection.
If every verb you use is strong, your writing will be difficult to read and understand.
The best way is to know when, why, and how to use them.
Related reading: What Is The Grammatical Expletive?
I never had a good grammar teacher so I don’t know what a ‘gerund’ is
You have used red and green highlights to separate a strong verb from a gerund
Which is which?
Red is weak and green is strong.
English is my second language, so I like to learn more verbs for me, and write notes about my life now, which is the best
app to write maybe not every day, but when you have something to report?
An excellent and informative post. Thank you. Just oone point of dissent, though. We are told not to use ‘sit down’, just ‘sit’.
It always depends on context, Vivienne. But, yes. Sit is usually stronger than sit down.