Dead verbs:  Destroy them !

Dead Verbs: is, are, am, have, had, has, be, been, was, look, were, take, took, went, go, ran, run, make, do, did, gone, came, come, -ing words

Form an appositive:

The man is a doctor,  He helps people get well.

The man, a doctor, provides help to sick people.

There are three kinds of dogs.

Three kinds of dogs, terrier, bull dog, and collies, live at the kennel.

(Note: do not start a sentence with here or there.)

Dead Verb 2 Practice -- Appositives

Dead Verb Practice-- Appositives

Move the adjective:

The waves are destructive.

The destructive waves knock down buildings.

The land is compressed.

The compressed land builds pressure along the fault line.

Add action:

The land areas are moving past each other.

The land areas move past each other, building friction and pressure.

My friends are nice.

My nice friends stroll around town with me.

The boy is a good basketball player.

The boy plays basketball well.

We were playing basketball all weekend.

We played basketball all weekend.

Move words around:  (Use words like include or exist)

There are three types of volcanoes.

Three types of volcanoes include, shield, cinder-cone, and composite.

Do not simply drop the dead verb---you will then be worse---no sentence at all:

Hydrothermal vents are underwater volcanoes.

Hydrothermal vents underwater volcanoes.

Instead:  In the ocean, volcanic action often occurs as hydrothermal vents.

CONTRACTIONS ARE STILL DEAD VERBS:  It’s = it is.   There’s = there is That’s =  that is. He’s= He is