Word Choice - Practice
TRAIT PRACTICE:
WORD CHOICE
PRACTICE FOR: ? Using action verbs ? Using descriptive adjectives ? Using specific words
MoreAction!
Averb isawordthatdescribesanaction.Someverbsarevague;theydon'thelpyouseethe actionclearly.Specificverbshavemoreaction;theytellyouexactlywhatishappening.This activitywillhelpyouthinkofverbsthatshowmoreaction.
A. Aboveeachunderlinedverb,writeaverbthatshowsmoreaction.Thefirstisdoneas anexample. sprints
1. Jeanniegoestothefinishlineandwinstherace. 2.Dwightgoesslowlydownthehall. 3.Jangoes,"It'syourturntowashthedishes!" 4.Lizangrilytookherdiaryfromherbrother. 5.Oscarcarefullytookhisnewbornbabytohisproudwife. 6.Samtookhismothertoherbirthdayparty. 7.RonsaidintoSteve'sear,"Don'ttellher!" 8."Shutthedoor!"saidtheangrychild. 9."I'msohappy,"thewinnersaidasshehelduphertrophy. 10.Sallymakesherownclothesfromherownpatterns. 11.Thisovenmakesaperfectcakeallthetime. 12.Riomakeshimselfruntwomileseveryday.
B. Findtheverbsinthisstoryandunderlinetheonesyouthinkarevague.Overthose verbs,writeotherverbsthatshowmoreaction. CliffistakingDeniseforarideinhisnewcar.Hemovesfastdownthe highway.SuddenlyDenisesays,"Lookout!"Atruckmovesintotheirlane,rightin frontofthem.Cliffputhisfootonthebrake?hard.Thecargoesfirsttotheright, thentotheleft."Don'tusethebrake!"Denisesays.Clifftakeshisfootoffthebrake andgetscontrolofthecar."We'resafe,"CliffgoestoDenise.
InterestingAdjectives
Anadjectivesisawordthatdescribesanoun.(Nounsarewordsforthingssuchaspeople, animals,places,ideas,etc.)Adjectivesthatarespecific,giveinformation.Theycanmakeyour writingcomealive.Thisactivitywillhelpyouthinkofinterestingadjectiveswhenyouwrite.
A. Above each underlined adjective, write another adjective that gives more information. The first is done as an example.
loyal
1. The good fans cheered the winning team. 2. The produce market is selling nice tomatoes today.
3. The good salesperson won a good prize for having a good sales record.
4. The bad driver made a bad decision when he went the wrong way.
5. In the last few seconds, the good basketball player made a good shot.
6. Ms. Pleasac would like a good job in a good office.
7. Jay looked cool because he was wearing his neat jacket.
8. It was a nice semester for Tom because he earned nice grades ? all Bs and Cs.
9. Voyager II made a nice discovery about Neptune's rings.
10. Roy took Janet out for a nice dinner for their anniversary.
11. The choir sang a good song during their concert.
12. The two friends had a bad argument and didn't talk to each other for weeks.
13. The babysitter got a bad headache from taking care of the bad children.
UsingWordsThatAreMoreDescriptive
Somedescriptivewordsareusedsooftenorcanhavesomanydifferentmeaningsthattheydonotgive exactdescriptions.Thesewordsusuallycanbereplacedwithsynonymsthataremoreexact. Useyourownvocabulary,athesaurus,oradictionarytoreplaceeachunderlinedwordwithamore precisesynonym.
1. Wehadsucha(nice)___________________________timeinthemountains. 2. Everyoneadmiredher(cute)___________________________dress. 3. Shewassucha(good)________________________________workerthatshehadmanyjob
offers. 4. Thosechildrenareso(bad)_____________________________thatbaby-sittersneverreturn. 5. He(said)_______________________totheoperatorthatthehousewasonfire. 6. Seeingthecaraccidentwasa(bad)_________________________experience. 7. Wewere(happy)______________________toseethegiftsundertheChristmastree. 8. Hisparentswere(sad)_____________________toseethepoorreportcard. 9. Wehadareally(great)________________________partyinthepark. 10. The(pretty)_______________________sunsetmadeusveryhappy. 11. Thechildren(went)_______________________intothehousetoseethenewpuppy. 12. Myfatherlikedmy(nice)__________________________ideaverymuch. 13. Theicecreamwasso(good)________________________thatweaskedformore. 14. Theman(said)___________________thathewasveryupset. 15. Themuddydog(came)_____________________throughtheopendoor. 16. Thebridelooked(pretty)___________________inherweddingdress. 17. Theman(ran)__________________totheburninghouseasfastashecouldtoseeifanyone
wasinthehouse.
GoodSentences
Lookatthefollowingexamples.Howaretheydifferentfromeachother?Howhavethewords indarktypebeenchanged?
I. Luisworksinaverymodernfactory.Thebuildingisnewandmodern,andithas allthemostmodernequipment.
II. Luisworksinaverymodernfactory.Thebuildingisnew,andithasallthemost up-to-dateequipment.
Sometimesyourepeatindividualwordsunnecessarily,especiallywhenyouareadding supportingdetailstothemainidea.Ifyourmainideaisthatthefactoryismodern,youwant thedetailstotellhowthatthefactoryismodern.Thetrickisnottokeeprepeatingtheword modern.Sometimesyoucantakeitoutaltogether.Sometimesyouneedtofindasynonym as asubstitute. Directions:Rewriteeachgroupofsentencestoavoidrepeatingwords.Rememberthatyou caneithertakeoutarepeatedwordorfindasynonymtouseinstead.Thereismorethanone waytorewriteeachitem.
1. IrememberAugust14bestofallbecauseitwasaperfectday.Theweatherwassunnyand perfect,andthebeachlookedperfectaswesteppedontothesand.
________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________
2. Aterribledisasteroccurred.Itishardtoimagineanythingmoreterrible.Roberthadmadea terriblemistake.
________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________
3. Nextyearwillbeveryimportant.Itwillbefilledwithimportantdecisions.TheimportantstepsI takethenwillaffecttherestofmylife.
________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________
4. Thisarticlecontainsgoodideasforsavingmoney.Itexplainsagood,easywaytofindbargains whenyoushop.Italsohassomegoodtipsonputtingyourmoneytoworkforyou.
________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________
PracticeChoosingSpecificWords
Directions:Somewordsinthesedraftsarevague.Underlinethosewords.Thenrevisethe drafts:Crossoutthevaguewordsandwritespecificwordsabovethem.Whenyouarefinished, writeacleancopyofeachreviseddraft.
A. Thisdraftispartofaletter.Thewriterisansweringanadforajobasastockclerkina hardwarestore.Theadappearedinanewspaper,The Daily Bulletin. Iamgoingforthejobofstockclerkthatyoutoldaboutinthepaper.IthinkI wouldbegreatatthejobbecauseIhavegreatexperience.Itookwoodshopin highschoolanditwasmybestthing.Ididapart-timejobasastockclerkina supermarket.Ialsohelpedoutinmyfather'sstore.Ihavegreatworkhabits.I amresponsibleandcooperative.Icangiveyougreatreferences.Ihopeyouwill givemethejob.Youcancallmeat555-4870.
B. Thisparagraphispartofareportaboutamovie.Thewriterthoughtthemoviewas excitingandlikeditverymuch. ThemovieIsawwascalledTheBug.Ithoughtitwassomething.Itwasabouta dudethatwasweird.Hewasasciencepersonorsomething.Hedidthingswith bugsandstuff.Hebuiltamachinethathadx-raysorsomethingandzappedthe bugs.Theygotweird.Onedayhehadanaccidentandhezappedhimself.He turnedintoagiantbug.Itwasweird.Hewentaroundthecityandattacked things.Thearmywipedhimout.Themoviewastoomuch.Ithinkeverybody shouldcheckitout.
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