13 Verbs to Avoid at All Cost to Write Better Stories and Sound More Convincing
I was in 4th grade. Still to this day I remember the disappointment in my teacher’s eyes when reading my story. The English class wasn’t my favorite at that time, so I rushed to complete the essay that we were assigned, a fictional story about a pirate trying to find a lost treasure. Ms. Lapena, my English teacher at the time, handed me my sheet of paper back, circling all the repetitive verbs I had used.
It’s only when I showed my mom my disastrous grade that a wave of embarrassment flowed through my body. She told me we had to fix my grammar. This is when she started implementing dictation exercises and story writing in my not-so-busy 9 years old’s schedule, making sure I was ready for the high school admission exams. In a way she passed on to me her passion for writing.
Mixing Numbers With Words
I’m sure I’m not the only one the 4th grade teacher scolded for always using the same verbs. According to Oxford Dictionaries and their English Corpus :
“Just ten different lemmas [lemma being a word that stands at the head of a definition in a dictionary] (the, be, to, of, and, a, in, that, have, and I) account for a remarkable 25% of all the words used in the Oxford English Corpus.”
“Similarly, the 100 most common lemmas account for 50% of the corpus, and the 1,000 most common lemmas account for 75%. But to account for 90% of the corpus you would need a vocabulary of 7,000 lemmas, and to get to 95% the figure would be around 50,000 lemmas.”
Combined with Zipf’s law and Brown Corpus, we can estimate that the average person uses about 2000 words while speaking in everyday situations, which equals to roughly 1% of the 171,476 words that are in current use according to the Oxford English Dictionary. Zipf himself proposed that neither speakers nor hearers using a given language want to work any harder than necessary to reach understanding.
On the other hand, utilizing the full range of the English language, holding this powerful tool at your disposal can render you a better public speaker and story writer, as well as making you sound more convincing. It adds depth to your statements. A clear example would reside in Jordan Peterson : his occasionally controversial ideas are easier to swallow thanks to his charisma and lexical diversity. Let’s not forget that being well spoken is foundational to charisma. Let’s now dive into the English language together and explore alternative verbs to the ones we all use so frequently.
What to Avoid
1. Be
Unless you’re part of The Beatles and you’re working on their 1970 renowned song “Let It Be”, the repetitive use of the verb “be” is nonmandatory. The verb “to be” holds a fairly wide range of meanings, so the alternatives depend heavily on the context :
- Locate, situate or find if you’re referring to a location.
- Reside, lie or stand if you’re talking about an existence.
- Become, remain or stay if you’re referring to a state of being.
- Feel, look, sound or any other verb related to the five senses when talking about a condition.
- Equal, represent or constitute when talking about an equivalence.
- Engage in, partake in or undertake when referring to doing something.
- Undergoing, experiencing or facing when talking about being in the process of.
- Existed, seemed or appeared when using the verb in the past tense.
- Exemplify, embody or personify when used to describe characteristics.
- Must or need to when used to describe a necessity.
2. Do
When you want the famous Nike motto “Just Do It” to mean a bit more than what it implies :
- Perform : Suitable for actions, tasks, or performances.
- Execute : For carrying out plans or tasks with precision.
- Accomplish : When referring to achieving goals or completing tasks.
- Conduct : For activities that involve organizing or managing.
- Complete : When talking about finishing tasks or assignments.
- Undertake : Taking on responsibilities or challenges.
- Carry out : For executing or fulfilling duties.
- Fulfill : Meeting obligations or expectations.
- Achieve : Reaching goals or attaining targets.
- Handle : Managing or dealing with situations or tasks.
- Repeat : Doing the same task a set amount of times.
3. Have
The only acceptable use of the verb “have” is when you have to employ it for the present perfect tense. Sorry I had to do it… oops I did it again… time to comply with my own advice I guess.
Instead, a proper sentence would’ve looked like : “The only acceptable use of the verb “have” is when you must employ it for the present perfect tense. Sorry I was compelled to do it… oops I repeated it.”
The alternative verbs are self explanatory so let’s jump right into it.
- Possess
- Own
- Hold
- Boast
- Contain
- Bear
- Maintain
- Feature
- Exhibit
- Harbor
4.Think
This verb implies uncertainty, something that a convincing figure doesn’t show. You don’t think, you follow your conviction, you’re sure about what you believe in.
- Believe
- Am confident
- Conceive
- Know
5. Guess
It suggests a lack of knowledge. How can you convince someone if you can’t convince yourself? You must sound like an expert of the subject if you want to be persuasive, therefore steer clear of guessing.
- Assume
- Estimate
- Deduce
- Speculate
6. Hope
You’re showing dependency on chance. Instead show that you’re making things happen, not letting fate decide.
- Anticipate
- Expect
- Aspire
- Trust (particularly effective if you want someone to carry out a task with maximum effort, e.g. : I trust you with this job)
7. Feel
In a professional context, this can seem too subjective. Try to be more objective.
- Observe
- Have found
- Notice
- Discern
- Detect
- Perceive
- Encounter
8. Seem
It indicates hesitation or lack of commitment. Show dedication instead and use comparisons.
- Appear
- Is evident
- Present
- Manifest
- Resemble
- Radiate
- Exude
- Mirror
9. Might or could
It once again reflects potential weakness or uncertainty. Implement alternative verbs in your vocabulary such as :
- Will
- Can
- Going to
10. Try
This verb suggests the possibility of failure, and we all know failure is not an option.
- Expect to
- Plan to
- Strive
- Endeavor
11. Wish
It implies a desire without a plan. Show that you put in the effort to actually make it happen.
- Intend
- Aim
- Aspire
12. Suppose
This verb indicates speculation or lack of conviction. Prove that you trust in what you say by demonstrating your conclusion, you train of thought.
- Understand
- Conclude
- Propose
13. Need
It can imply a lack of preparation or resources. You came prepared and capable, and the audience must see it.
- Require
- Must
- Demand
- Entail
- Call for
Remember that the power of convincing and storytelling relies on the words that you choose; enhancing your phraseological (bet you didn’t know this one) richness is a major step forward in becoming a superior writer and public speaker.
Liryc
