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ESSENTIAL ACTION NOT WORKING! -->ACTABLE VERBS

 

FINDING ACTABLE VERBS

Are all verbs equally actable? No. This immediately eliminates the following classification of verbs.

 

Intellectual verbs

These usually come in packages of three syllables or more. They are lofty or elegant. No ordinary human being ever spent two seconds, much less ten minutes, pursuing them. Cogitate, for example, is the intellectual form for a more ordinary activity: figure out. No one can put his shoulder behind the frail verb reciprocate, but anyone could push hard on get even.

 

Behavior or Condition verbs

These verbs describe a state of being or an action that does not require a strong commitment of intent. They are usually reflexive or subconscious activities that can be accomplished without effort- sleep, laugh, sneeze, cry, eat, wait, or stand usually require no hard push-ing.

 

Existential verbs

These verbs include those vast activities that go on without our volition. They are too vague to be endeavored in. For instance, one can hardly push hard for ten minutes on the verbs to be, to exist, to die, to become, to live, to use, to try, or to think.

 

Adjectival verbs

This classification is extremely subjective, we could consider a certain verb in this category to be dangerous, while another will consider it acceptable. The determining factor is this: Does the choice of the verb sound dangerously close to indicating or playing the adjective? For instance we might discourage the use of a verb such as argue, because it slides so unnoticeably into the adjectival playing of argumentative; charm because it slides into being charming; pity leads to pitiful; imagine leads to imaginative, deceive leads to deceptive, and so forth.

 

Trigger verbs

These verbs depict actions that occur so quickly the doer could not pursue them for ten minutes: shoot, slap, kick, kiss, touch, quit.

 

Actable verbs

These verbs, it is worth repeating, are commonplace, gutsy activities that an ordinary person could put his shoulder behind and push hard for ten minutes. One can certainly work hard for a long time to convince, excite, tease, encourage. destroy prove. entice, intimidate.

 

It becomes apparent that nearly seven-eighths of the verbs in spoken English are of absolutely no use to the actor. Focus your attention on a small list of very refined verbs that you will find useful. 

 



 

 

 

 

Ball, William. A Sense of Direction. New York : Drama Book Publishers, 1984.

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