ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the grammatical concept of using language that expresses ideas precisely and eliminates wordiness and redundancy, focusing on strong verbs and specific nouns as two grammatical concepts that help writers achieve this goal. The chapter begins by introducing the concept of language that expresses ideas clearly and efficiently and describing the features of specific nouns and strong verbs. After that, it discusses the importance of concrete, precise language to effective writing, providing examples from published texts of specific nouns and strong verbs to illustrate what these concepts look like in practice and convey their impact. Next, the chapter presents a classroom snapshot section, which describes the author’s experience teaching this concept to a seventh-grade class. The chapter then provides key recommendations for teaching students to add clarity and precision to their writing through the uses of specific nouns and strong verbs. It ends with a bulleted list of final thoughts on this topic.
