Power Words: Use Them to Strengthen Your Writing

By Elaine Sambugaro

Published November 2001

Power words are active words

Power words are often verbs that drive your sentences forward and pique a reader's interest. The Canadian Press Stylebook gives two useful examples of how power words can replace passive sentence construction.

NOT: The economy experienced a quick revival.
BUT: The economy revived quickly.

NOT: At first light there was no sign of the ship.
BUT: The ship vanished in the night. (p.135-136)

The power words are "revived" and "vanished." In each case, they support the subject of the sentence (the economy and the ship) and complete the sentence.

Power words are plain

Power words are accurate

Article sections:

Introduction
Power words are plain
Power words are active words
Power words are accurate
A final point

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Author Information

Elaine Sambugaro is a staff writer with CanadaOne.Com.