Language and Grammar: Express Ideas and Opinions

Pair Share With a partner, share your ideas and opinions about what you want to do when you are older. Give reasons for your opinions. Be sure the verbs you use agree with the subjects of your sentences.

I want to be a chef. I think it’s exciting to create new dishes.

Writing and Grammar: Write with Colorful Action Words

Study the Models When you write, you want to catch your reader’s interest. One way to do that is to use colorful action verbs. Many verbs tell what someone or something does—eats, nibbles, munches, gobbles, gulps, devours. These action verbs can be boring, like eats, or they can give a colorful, vivid picture, like gobbles or devours.

Just Ok

Esperanza looks at the house on Mango Street. Four trees grow in the front near the street. Bricks on the house break slowly. The front door doesn’t want to open.

The reader thinks: “This writing is plain.”

Better

Esperanza frowns at the house on Mango Street. Four trees grab the earth in the front near the street. Bricks on the house crumble slowly. The front door clings to the house. It doesn’t want to open.

The reader thinks: “This is better. The verb ‘frowns’ helps me know that Esperanza doesn’t like what she sees.”

Add Sentences Think of two more sentences to add to the BETTER model above. Try to use colorful verbs from the chart.

Instead of …Try a colorful verb like …
gocrawl, hobble, walk, hurry, race
look atglance at, notice, observe, gaze, watch
laughgrin, giggle, chuckle, cackle, howl
talkchat, chatter, discuss, speak
writejot down, scribble, record, compose

Illustration of the pen icon WRITE ON YOUR OWN Write about something you learned from Esperanza. Use colorful action verbs in your sentences. Use some action verbs from the chart or try a thesaurus. It can help you find more precise and colorful verbs.

Remember

  • • Add -s to the action verb only when the subject is singular.

    One tree grows in the backyard.