📖 Eight Words That Are Doing Too Much Work
📖 Eight Words That Are Doing Too Much Work
In every exam season, eight verbs carry the entire burden of thousands of Q5 responses: said, walked, looked, felt, asked, took, made, went. They are not wrong. They are just invisible. An examiner reading “he said” for the four hundredth time that morning does not consciously penalise it — but they cannot reward it either. Precision is where AO5 marks live. The upgrade drills on this page cover all eight families.
English Language glossary
- What is a precise verb and why does it matter more than a general one?
- <strong>A precise verb</strong> carries three things at once: the action itself, the manner of the action, and an implied emotional register.<br><br><em>Said</em> carries only the bare fact of speech. <em>Murmured</em> also carries: quiet intensity, intimacy, possibly secrecy.<br><br><strong>Why it matters:</strong> AO5 rewards vocabulary that creates a vivid experience for the reader. A general verb tells the reader what happened; a precise verb shows how it felt. The reader experiences <em>trudged</em> differently from <em>walked</em> — and that difference is where marks live.
General verbs like said, walked, looked, felt are grammatically complete but analytically empty. They tell the reader what happened; they do not show how it happened. The gap between “he said” and “he murmured” is the difference between information delivered and experience created. Precise verbs
Now try it yourself
Quiz · Question 1 of 10
A character is comforting a friend after bad news. She speaks quietly, holding her hand. Which verb best replaces 'said' in: 'It will be all right,' she said.
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