Forms of To be

Present

I am
they/she/he/it is
you/we/they are

Past

I was
they/she/he/it was
you/we/they were

Perfect

I have been/had been
they/she/he/it has been or had been
you/we/they have been or had been

Progressive

I am/was being
they/she/he/it is or was being
you/>we/they are/were being

 

I am. You are. She is. Obviously, being is essential to existence, so it’s no surprise that to be verbs are essential in writing. (In fact, the previous sentence used three to be verbs. Can you spot them?) We’re the first to admit that it is nearly impossible to write without using an occasional are or is. (In fact, we just used two more!) However, most of us rely too heavily on to be verbs or use them unconsciously. To be verbs lack the vigor and power offered by stronger, more-action packed verbs. As a result, our writing suffers.

Try the techniques below to invigorate your prose.

1. Replace to be verbs with bolder, more specific verbs

Vague & Wordy
My sister is loud when she is telling her children to do their homework.

Bold & Specific
My sister bellows when telling her children to do their homework.

Sometimes, this requires changing the word order in a sentence:

Vague & Wordy
The restaurant’s food is excellent.

Bold & Specific
The restaurant serves excellent food.

2. Change one or more of the nouns in the sentence into a verb

Vague & Wordy
Jennifer Lawrence is the star of The Hunger Games.
Our mother was the driver of the bus.

Bold & Specific
Jennifer Lawrence stars in The Hunger Games.
Our mother drove the bus.

3. Combine short, choppy sentences to eliminate to be verbs

Vague & Wordy
The food at the restaurant is excellent. The hamburgers are juicy. The onion rings are crispy. The pie is the best I have ever eaten.

Bold & Specific
The restaurant serves excellent food, including juicy hamburgers, crispy onion rings, and the best pie I have ever eaten.

4. Avoid overusing there is, there are, there were, this is, etc.

Vague & Wordy
The restaurant’s parking lot is narrow. There are not very many parking spaces and those that are available are too cramped.

Bold & Specific
The restaurant suffers from a narrow parking lot with only a few cramped spaces.

In the bold example above, we not only combined sentences to eliminate to be verbs, but we also eliminated there are and that are. Such expressions delay or minimize the subject and add needless words. In the revisions below, we rearranged the sentences to emphasize the subjects, chose bolder verbs, and cut needless words.

Vague & Wordy
It is my intention to transfer to a four-year university.
There were some important findings resulting from this experiment.

Bold & Specific
I intend to transfer to a four-year university.
This experiment resulted in some important findings.

Sometimes, you can cut unnecessary words with no other changes:

Vague & Wordy
He struggled with the paper that was assigned by the professor.

Bold & Specific
He struggled with the paper assigned by the professor.

5. Replace a to be verb + a prepositional phrase with a bold verb

Vague & Wordy
Electric car technology was in existence as early as 1830.
Negative advertising is influential on voters’ perceptions of candidates.
I am in receipt of your letter.

Bold & Specific
Electric car technology existed as early as 1830.
Negative advertising influences voters’ perceptions of candidates.
I have received your letter/ I received your letter.

6. Replace a to be verb + an -ing word with a simple verb

Vague & Wordy
The stock market was fluctuating wildly before the crash.
The concept of immortality is intriguing to me.

Bold & Specific
The stock market fluctuated wildly before the crash.
The concept of immortality intrigues me.