Learn to speak vim — verbs, nouns, and modifiers!

Using vim is like talking to your editor in ‘verb modifier object’ sentences, turned into acronyms

• learn some verbs: v (visual), c (change), d (delete), y (yank/copy). these are the most important. there are others
• learn some modifiers: i (inside), a (around), t (till..finds a character), f (find..like till except including the char), / (search..find a string/regex)
• learn some text objects: w (word), s (sentence) p (paragraph) b (block/parentheses), t (tag, works for html/xml) there are others

To move efficiently in vim, don’t try to do anything by pressing keys many times, instead speak to the editor in sentences

• delete the current word: diw (delete inside word)
• change current sentence: cis (change inside sentence)
• change a string inside quotes: ci” (change inside quote)
• change until next occurrence of ‘foo’: c/foo (change search foo)
• change everything from here to the letter X: ctX
• visually select this paragraph: vap (visual around paragraph)

If you understand the verbs and objects you’re dealing with, you will soon realize that adding a new plugin and learning a new verb or noun exponentially increases your productivity, as you can now apply it in all the sentences you already know. It’s just like learning a language.

Let’s add some new text object plugins!

• install surround.vim: vim-surround- you get a new noun, the ‘surround’ (s or S)
• visually select a word and surround it with quotes: viwS”
• change surround from single quote to double quote: cs’”
• install vim-textobj-rubyblock — you get a new noun, the ‘ruby block’ (r)
• delete current ruby block: dir (delete inside ruby block)
• visually select a ruby function: var (visual around ruby block)
• visually select the innards of a function: vir (visual inside ruby block)
• install tComment — new verb: gc (go comment)
• comment the current ruby method: gcar (go comment around ruby)

Now go out and learn a new verb or noun every day!

Love this article? Here are some more you might like :)

• The cleanest vimrc you’ll ever see
• Stop using colon commands in vim
• Navigating files in vertical splits
• How to change vim syntax colors that are annoying you
• 5 minutes a day for exponential productivity

Want an exceptionally curated collection of vim plugins and shortcuts?

Check out my fully modularized vim/dotfile setup called YADR (Yet Another Dotfile Repo) which includes text object plugins for ruby blocks(r), indents(i), dates(da/df), function arguments(a), and ruby symbols(:)

Yan Pritzker is the co-founder and CTO of Swan Bitcoin, the best place to buy bitcoin with your bank account using automated savings plans.