Powerful Verbs: firefly
The Grammar Bit!
Read the three scintillating sentences opposite. They each contain one (or more) powerful verbs (bold).
A verb is a word that indicates action or a state of being.
Some sentences contain verbs that are just a little boring! They don’t give lots of information about the action or make the text very exciting. Instead, we can use powerful verbs to describe precise actions so that the reader is able to visualise an image in their mind’s eye.
With your talk partners, discuss the effectiveness of each powerful verb. Do they help you visualise precisely what is happening?
Scintillating Sentences
- The forest lights up with the glow of thousands of fireflies.
- Shining brightly, vast numbers of fireflies flit to and fro in the darkness.
- Illuminating the forest, fireflies desperately pursue a mate.
Did you know?
There are many different species of firefly, each with their own distinctive light display. Some species flash only once; others emit a ‘flash train’ of up to nine pulses. Some wriggle their abdomens from side to side, which gives them a twinkling appearance!