Verbs serve as the real workhorses of our language. Look, for instance, at the strong, precise verbs in the following passage:

A fire engine, out for a trial spin, roared past Emerson’s house, hot with readiness for public duty. Over the barn roofs the martens dipped and chattered. A swarthy daughter of an asparagus grower, in culottes, shirt, and bandanna, pedaled past on her bicycle.

—E. B. WHITE, “Walden”

If White had used more general verbs—such as drove, flew, called, and rode—the passage would be much less effective. With White’s verbs, however, readers can hear the roar of the fire engine, see the martens swooping downward and hear them chirping shrilly, and feel the young woman pushing on the pedals of her bicycle.

Some of the most commonly used verbs in English—especially be, do, and have—carry little or no sense of specific action. Try not to overuse them in situations where precise verbs would be more effective. Look at how much stronger the following sentences become when precise verbs are used: